Our Kingdoms
by Meine Welt
Summary: Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. AU. DarkxSatoshi slight KradxDaisuke COMPLETED
1. Prologue

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. Don't like? Don't read.

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. Do not flame me please. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing.

* * *

_A very long time ago, there existed seven realms, each governed by their expected ruler, each kept in line by their monarchies. The biggest of these monarchies were the Light and Shadow kingdoms, followed closely by the Ice and Fire kingdoms. The remaining realms of Water, Earth, and Rock are in a smaller minority and are not widely known for anything in particular. None of these kingdoms have anything remotely similar, save for the bordering kingdoms of Ice and Shadow. Here, they share but one thing, a tale that was almost lost by time, only to be recovered once more. Whether or not is true is anyone's say. But in these realms lies a tale of two young boys, a lost prince, and a monarchy on the brink of destruction…_

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_**Border between Shadow and Ice realms---200 years before**_

Mirain grumbled something about the 'damn snow' as she patrolled the wooded area that stood between the two kingdoms. This area of the Shadow Kingdom was often covered in snow because of the storms that blew in from the Ice Kingdom. How they were supposed to catch trespassers or escapees was beyond her, considering that they didn't even have the proper equipment. She should complain to the Imperial Guard again. Mirain smirked slightly. Being captain of the Border Patrol had its perks.

"Captain!" And then it didn't. Sighing heavily, she swung around, watching a young private stumble towards her through the heavy snow. Winter was just a lovely season, wasn't it? Oh yes, she would be lodging a complaint tomorrow, and not just about the equipment.

"What is it," Mirain called back as the boy stumbled closer to her.

"We found someone!" he responded between breaths as he finally managed to reach her, "I was ordered to bring them to you!" Mirain glanced around briefly.

"Lock them up and throw away the key," came her slightly cross reply when she saw no other human beings around.

"But Captain…" the private whined pitifully, holding out a small bundle. She leaned over and moved the blanket a little to get a closer look, only to find herself staring into cerulean eyes. Gasping in surprise, she jerked back.

"What kind of joke is this," she all but snarled, eyeing the bundle as it shifted and a small whimper reached her sensitive ears. The private cringed.

"It's no joke ma'am!" he protested, "We found him right on the border, snuggled in the roots of one of the trees." Mirain's face softened ever-so slightly.

"What kind of parent abandons their kid?" she muttered, reluctantly taking the small child into her arms, "I'll take him. You are dismissed, private." The man saluted awkwardly and made his way clumsily back towards his post. Turning, Mirain continued on her walk back to the base, her eyes studying the boy in arms. Carefully, she fingered a small name bracelet wrapped around his wrist.

"Satoshi, huh? Well, it looks like it just you and I kid." The boy gave no response, just reached up and grabbed at the snow as it floated softly by.

--

_**Four years later—Shadow Kingdom**_

"What's your name?" Satoshi stared blankly at the amethyst-eyed boy who had just appeared in front of him.

"Satoshi," he replied shortly, warily studying the boy. The boy just smiled back at him.

"My name's Dark! I'm five! How old are you?" Satoshi was surprised by the boy's abundance of energy.

"I'm four. Leave me alone."

"Satoshi, don't be rude!" The blue-haired boy looked up at his supposed-mother, Mirain, who had recently been appointed to the Imperial Guard. It was for her that he was here at the palace. The neighbour girl hadn't been able to watch him today.

"Forgive him, your Highness," Mirain uttered, bowing slightly to Dark. Satoshi looked back at the boy in front of him.

"Oh. You're the royal brat." Mirain flushed slightly.

"Satoshi!" Dark waved her off and smiled again at Satoshi.

"Maybe! I like you though," he pretended to study the younger, "You're cute!" Satoshi blanched.

"What?"

"You're cute!" Dark repeated, "You look different from every one else. They all have dark hair and eyes, yours are light."

"And that makes me cute?" Satoshi inquired. Dark nodded happily.

"Right. Okaa-san, can we go now?" Mirain nodded helplessly as the young boy tugged on her leggings, and with another slight bow, the two left the young prince. Dark made no move to follow them, but seemed to be mulling over something far beyond the knowledge of a five-year old. He broke out smiling as he seemed to decide something, and when his mother came to fetch him for his bath, he was silent and made no protests.

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MW- Right. That was the prologue. It was also very, very short. Other chapters will be longer, I promise! I still can't believe I'm posting this, but it has been stuck in my head since…oh, August. Please review and tell me what you think. Flames burn bad dubs, constructive criticism appreciated. 


	2. Book I, Part I

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness.

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. Do not flame me please. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't flame me because I like these pairings.

**A/N:** Thank all of those who have reviewed! I appreciate them all very much. I will try and make this chapter longer.

* * *

_**Thirteen years later---Shadow Kingdom**_

"Dark, if you don't get down here right now, so help me I'll—" Satoshi glared up the tree at the eighteen-year old prince perched at the top.

"You'll what?" Dark shot back, a big grin plastered on his face. Satoshi gave a small growl at him and looked down at the wolf-like creature by his side.

"Should I, Keisai?" The wolf just stared at him with her yellow eyes before looking up at Dark and giving a short bark. Satoshi gave a wicked half-smirk before slinging his bow off of his back and fitting it with an arrow.

"I'll shoot you out of the tree," the blue-haired boy finished his threat. Dark made a face at him.

"You're evil! I'm only armed with a sword that's useless up here and you know that!" Satoshi ignored the elder's protests and lined his arrow up.

"You have three seconds to start descending," he warned. Dark slouched and stuck his tongue out, only to give a yelp as the arrow hit the tree about five inches above his head.

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!"

"Bring my arrow with you." Dark pulled another face but did as was told, handing the arrow back to the younger when he finally dropped off of the last branch.

"You can't avoid your royal duties forever," Satoshi said as he put his arrow back in his quiver and slung his bow over his shoulder.

"No, but I can sure try," was Dark's reply. Satoshi just shook his head in exasperation.

"Satoshi is right, Dark." Said boy jumped in surprise at the voice behind them and latched onto Satoshi's neck. The younger rolled his eyes and pushed Dark off as he said,

"Hello 'kaa-san." Mirain smiled at her adopted son before turning to Dark.

"You're cousin is going to be here any moment Your Highness. You should head back to the castle." Dark seemed to droop.

"One, Krad can go fall in a river and I still won't care. Two, what have I told you about calling me by my title?" Mirain just kept smiling.

"You should still be heading back to the castle," she half-turned to Satoshi, "Would you escort him back?" Dark just sighed.

"I don't need a babysitter," he started walking away, calling over his shoulder, "See? I can get back there myself!"

"Very well," the woman called back, before muttering under her breath, "Your highness." Satoshi smirked and turned towards the road.

"Will you be coming home tonight okaa-san?" Mirain nodded her head.

"Go ahead and make dinner for both of us," she responded, "I just need to make sure that Krad-sama reaches the castle safely." She started after the young prince, not completely trusting him to go straight to the castle. The blue-haired boy gave a small nod towards her back before heading off in the other direction.

-

Satoshi was stretched out across the couch, dozing lightly, when he heard the front door slam. Not opening his eyes, he pulled his feet closer to his body and manoeuvred away from the back of the couch. Soon after, another body of warmth joined him on the daybed, legs stretched out in the newly-made space behind the blue-haired boy's back. Leaning back against said legs, he opened his eyes and looked down the length of the cushion towards Dark. The older boy was leaning back against the armrest, staring wearily at the ceiling.

"I think this is the quietest you've ever been." Satoshi was at the receiving end of a glare and a sigh for that remark. Dark leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs and pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes until colours exploded. The younger watched, waiting for the inevitable explanation.

"I hate Krad."

"Ah." That clarified everything. Satoshi knew how much Dark and Krad hated each other, even if they were cousins. It had barley been five hours since the latter had arrived, but Satoshi was pretty sure that there had been many close calls, which could also be called subtle murder attempts. Shifting so that he was lying on his back, Satoshi closed his eyes again, leaving Dark to mope by himself. There was a slight pause before,

"Hey 'Toshi." Blue eyes snapped open again in a glare and a tongue was ready to retort, but instead Satoshi found himself staring into amethyst eyes that were just a few inches away.

"What?" Satoshi snapped, slightly peeved at himself for not noticing that Dark had been on the move.

"I've been thinking—"

"Hope you didn't hurt yourself." Dark glared at the smaller boy underneath him before settling back on the blunette's chest.

"As I was saying, I've been thinking. Mother has been bugging me lately and the law says—"

"Dark-sama!" Both heads turned in surprise in the direction of the foyer.

"That sounded like…"

"Sawako-chan." Dark mumbled, finishing Satoshi's sentence and cursing the young maid for her impeccable timing. The older fell backwards off of Satoshi and onto his side of the couch again, allowing the younger to roll off and make his way to the entrance hall.

"Sawako-chan." His voice stopped the girl from calling out again and she spun around in surprise. Mirain had given the chambermaid permission to enter the house in search of Dark at all times but…cobalt eyes drifted to the other two figures standing in the hallway.

"Satoshi-san! Forgive me! I didn't wake you did I?" Satoshi shook his head at the blond's question.

"I was just talking to Dark-san."

"So he is here!" Sawako almost demanded eagerly.

"Where else would he be?" Satoshi asked dryly, his eyes once again drifting to the two others in the hall. The taller he recognized as Krad-sama, but he didn't know who the short red-haired one was. The blunette was slightly aware of Sawako saying something, but a noise in the room behind him made him turn half-way around. Dark was leaning against one of the door frames, watching Sawako who had yet to notice him. Their eyes met and Dark mouthed 'traitor' at him, but Satoshi just rolled his eyes.

"Satoshi-san?"

"Hm?" Satoshi redirected his focus back to the girl in front of him.

"Did you hear what I asked?" Satoshi shook his head again, and looked at Dark, who was now mumbling something.

"Speak up, I can't hear you." Satoshi called out. Dark just stuck his tongue out at him. Sawako jumped before giving a hasty bow, just realizing that her crown-prince was in their midst. The older boy sighed at the girl's actions, but nodded his notification of her gesture. She seemed slightly embarrassed for not noticing that Dark had been there before and was now stumbling over her words.

"Dark-sama, you need…ah, I mean, uh…" Thankfully, the other blond in the room took over for the poor girl.

"You need to get back to the castle Dark." Krad deadpanned. Sawako flushed slightly while Satoshi admired the other's lack of subtleness. Dark growled in his throat and opened his mouth to retort, but a quick glare from the blunette stopped that action. The last time a fight had broken out between Dark and Krad in Satoshi's house, the house was almost levelled. Dark scowled at both Krad and Satoshi, but stormed out of the house none the less. The later noticed that the red-head seemed confused at the whole display, but shrugged it off. Poor kid had no idea how bad it could get. With a curt nod, Krad quickly followed the prince, grabbing the red-head's arm in passing and dragging him along. Sawako gave a mumbled apology and thanks before running after the royalties. Satoshi watched them go, only looking up when Mirain appeared at the top of the stairs, still in her night clothes.

"Are they finally gone?" she muttered through a yawn.

"Yea."

"You should come to bed," Mirain watched her son through half-lidded eyes. He was acting strangely again.

"I will in a minute," the cobalt-eyed one turned back to the living room, surveying it before finally spotting what he was looking for. Striding towards the daybed, he picked a piece of paper off of the end table. Smiling as he recognized Dark's familiar scrawl, he quickly scanned the note.

_Meet me at the training grounds tomorrow! I swear I'll kidnap you if you don't show up! –Dark_

Shaking his head, he placed the paper back on the table and blew out the lantern. It worked out just fine for him, because he had been planning to the training grounds tomorrow anyway.

* * *

ME- I'm really sorry if the ending seems rushed. I was trying to avoid doing that, but I couldn't. A big thank you to: _Satoshi-sama_, **Angel Born of Darkness, **_Kat R. Fair_, **Phantom Fox,**_black winged hikari angel,_ and **MissSilver** for your reviews! I appreciate them! 


	3. Book I, Part II

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness.

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. Do not flame me please. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like these pairings.

**A/N-** Phantom Fox, you made me laugh! "Curse you maid-person, that was a fluff scene just waiting to happen!" Yes, yes it was. But you don't really think I'm going to let that happen so early in the story, now do you:D

* * *

Dawn was just beginning to take its first peek over the horizon when Satoshi left his house. He had always been an early riser, and was not surprised to find the night shift was still on their guard duty. Gravel crunched underneath his feet as he joined the main road that led to the town. Keisai tagged along at his heels, nipping lightly at the early morning sprites. Satoshi preferred to leave the beings alone, but Keisai seemed to like playing with them. As they neared the town, the sprites left them though, retreating back into the dark forest in order to avoid the people and the light that was now creeping over the land. Suddenly, Satoshi veered off onto a small side road that led towards the stables and the training grounds. He highly doubted that Dark would be there already, never-the-less awake at all. Satoshi almost felt sorry for the poor unfortunate servant who had to wake the crown prince each morning. Almost. Satoshi opened the barn door, halting briefly to let Keisai squeeze past him so that she could go harass the barn horses. Shaking his head at the wolf's antics, he headed for the back of the barn where the weapons were stored when they weren't in use. Pulling a good bow and sturdy quiver off of the back wall, he turned to leave, but stopped when he heard a slight noise. Peering around the corner that led to the horse stalls, but stayed where he was when he saw who was there. The short red-haired boy from last night was sitting on the door of the last empty horse stall, talking to a white rabbit thing. It looked like a fluff ball of some sort. But Satoshi had to admire the other's balance. 

"You don't seem like an early riser to me." With a squeak of surprise, the red-haired boy tumbled backwards into the stall. Correction, he used to admire the other's balance. Crossing the room and leaning over the short door, Satoshi peered down at the youth that was sprawled out in the hay.

"I'm fine…"

"That's nice," Satoshi replied, raising an eyebrow. Crimson eyes opened slowly, staring up at him with a slight reflection of recognition in them.

"You're that boy from last night…Satoshi, right?" The blue haired boy nodded in response.

"I didn't quite catch your name…"

"Oh! Daisuke! Niwa Daisuke!" There was a soft 'kyuu' and the rabbit…thing poked its head over Daisuke's shoulder. "And this is Wiz!" **(1)** Satoshi nodded again and gazed around.

"Keisai's around here somewhere."

"That wolf?" Daisuke asked as he pulled himself to his feet. "I think she went sniffing around the Arabian's stall."

"Typical," Satoshi snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Are you going to the training grounds?" Red eyes studied his bow as he nodded, "Can I come with you?" A shrug. Daisuke obviously perceived that as a 'yes' because he started to climb over the door. At least, until he lost his balance again and fell face first the rest of the way. Satoshi tried not to laugh at the other boy's misfortune. Really, he did.

-

Eight in the morning found the two boys at the archery range, Daisuke watching as Satoshi shot round after round of arrows. The red head was amazed at the older boy's accuracy with his shots, but didn't comment on it, instead choosing other topics to talk about; the most recent was the feud between Dark and Krad.

"Why do they hate each other so much?" Daisuke asked, watching as another arrow hit the bulls-eye. Satoshi pulled another arrow from the quiver and fitted it, taking the time to talk as he did so.

"They weren't always like that."

"Really?" _Thunk._ Another arrow hit its mark.

"No. There was a time when they were practically best friends. But that was back when we were really little kids." Satoshi fitted another shaft.

"So what happened?" Daisuke couldn't help it. He was curious. He felt like he barley knew Krad after hearing all the stuff that the blue eyed one knew.

"Remember the battle between Cilicis and Solis about ten years back?"

"Yes, who could forget that? I heard there were lots of casualities."

"There were," Satoshi paused to fire his arrow, "Among them were Krad's entire family and most of his close friends. He became very withdrawn and cold towards others, and it hurt his relationship with Dark. They've been at it ever since."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something?"

"Because I'm not." Satoshi smirked as another arrow was inserted into the bow. The younger was very inquisitive.

"'Toshi! Dai-chan!" Satoshi barley had time to register the call before he was tackled from behind by a ball of energy, his arrow shooting off into the woods, barley missing Daisuke.

"Dark!"

"Love you too, 'Toshi. Don't worry, it's just an arrow." Satoshi shrugged the other's body off of him, glaring full force. Dark just grinned and rocked back on his heels. Behind him, Satoshi saw Daisuke get up to greet Krad. Glaring again for effect, he turned and stormed into the woods to retrieve the arrow.

-

The figure moved silently through the woods, smiling secretly to himself at the information he had gathered about Atrum. His liege would be most pleased. The man paused, before ducking as a wild arrow whizzed inches above his head. He snarled softly. Had he been discovered? No! It was too soon! He still had to cross the border! He quickly squirmed his way into hiding in the foliage, waiting. Soon, he heard the crackling of leaves under foot and the low angry grumbling. The man was surprised when a teenager stormed into the clearing, heading immediately for the arrow to retrieve it. The figure was safe, for now. Pausing suddenly, he took a closer look at the boy. Dear Leto, what was one of Frigus' own doing here. This couldn't be happening! An ice boy, brought up among the shadow people? Oh yes, his liege would be most interested indeed…

**

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(1)**- I refuse, absolutely REFUSE to call Wiz 'With'. With is a freaking preposition, not a name!

MW- XD I couldn't resist! Short chapter, I know, but please deal. My mind is dead. Anyway! You're probably confused now.

**Cilicis- Kingdom of Rock**

**Solis- Kingdom of Light**

**Atrum- Kingdom of Shadow**

**Frigus- Kingdom of Ice**

**Accendo- Kingdom of Fire**

**Mercadia- Kingdom of Water**

**Terra- Kingdom of Earth**

**- **

**Leto- God of the Ice People**

**Gaia- Goddess** **of the Earth people**

**Dazbog- God of the Light people**

**Crnobog- God of the Shadow people**

**Hephaestus- God of the Fire people**

**Llyer- God of the Water people**

**Mokosh- Goddess of the Rock people**

I'm currently working on drawing a map so that it's clearer, and I will post the link to it on my bio page here on FFN for those who want to see it.

Thanks go out to: **Phantom Fox,** _Angel Born of Darkness,_** Ladye Black, **_MissSilver_** and Lil'Andre.** Okay, people, I know you are reading this! Please review this time! Happy Valentine's Day! (_/personally hates the holiday/_ ah well…)

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	4. Book I, Part III

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness.

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. Do not flame me please. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like these pairings.

* * *

Satoshi gave the arrow one final tug as it slid from the tree. He did a quick scan for damager, before fitting it into his bow again. He knew he had heard something or someone else moving through the foliage. He pivoted on one foot, his arrow lining up with Dark's throat.

"What where you're pointing that thing!" The elder exclaimed, pushing the point away from his windpipe. Satoshi said nothing, his eyes slowly roaming to his left. It was over there.

"Hey."

"Hm?" Satoshi redirected the majority of his attention back to the boy in front of him.

"Dai-chan suggested that I come apologize so…"

"Dai-chan?" Satoshi raised an eyebrow. Dark glowered at him.

"Daisuke Niwa. You know him."

"I see," blue eyes drifted left again while muttering _Dai-chan_ under his breath. "Isn't Niwa the royal family of Accendo?"

"Yeah." Dark nodded. "Anyway, I just came to say sor---" Dark cut of as Satoshi's hand shot out, shoving him backwards. He stumbled back a few steps, watching with a stunned expression as the blunette spun one hundred and eighty degrees, firing the loaded shaft at a figure lurking at the edge of the clearing. The shadow seemed as startled as he was, but reacted quickly, stepping back and grabbing the hilt of the arrow as it passed by. He then seemed to pull a bow out of mid air, but Dark wasn't sure what happened next because a body was slamming into him, knocking them both to the ground as the arrow whistled harmlessly overhead.

"Are you alright?" Dark opened his eyes to find worried cerulean staring back at him. That immediately struck him as odd, because Satoshi hardly ever showed his emotions. He found himself nodding however, just to see the brief flicker of relief in those eyes. He felt a small stirring disappointment as Satoshi rolled off of him, but squashed it almost instantly. He sat up just in time to see the younger pull his arrow out of a tree again.

"What are you doing?" Satoshi ignored him and notched the shaft, jogging to the edge of clearing before he was stopped by that hand that grabbed him. Dark glared and repeated his question.

"I'm going after him."

"Why?"

"Because you're the crown prince and he tried to assassinate you."

"It's the guard's problem! Let them stop him!" Satoshi ignored the elder's protest and ripped his arm from Dark's grasp.

"Do you see any guards around?" the blunette hissed, "I'm going to at least slow him down until they arrive." With that, he disappeared into the forest. Dark stared after him, gnawing on his lip. Suddenly he turned and sped back to the training grounds, his mind made up.

-

Satoshi ducked under low branches and scrambled over fallen trees, trying to keep up with the fleeing figure. His spat with Dark had cost him time, time which he now how had to make up. Suddenly, he veered, as if to avoid a branch that wasn't there. Right before he vanished into the shadows, he gave a feral grin. In the chase, time was everything.

-

The border between Atrum and Frigus was marked by a low stone wall that was protect with magic wards. However, every once in a while, a ward would burn out (for they are quite old) and would need replacing. It could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days for a burned out spell to be replaced, depending on how long it took to find the dead spell and how difficult it was to replace. Kieran knew he only had about twenty minutes at maximum left before the wall was completely sealed again. He damned his pursuer to fire and brimstone as he tried not to slip on the moss covered rocks. He stopped short though when an arrow sliced it's way through his left arm, almost impaling him to a tree. He snarled up at the boy who had attacked him back at the clearing. How had the brat gotten in front of him? Kieran growled lowly, his bright eyes surveying the boy's weapons stock. No swords or knives. The young man had either forgotten them, or wasn't good at short-range combat. Typical. But it was no matter, Kieran could just exploit it to his advantage. The boy fired another shot, but this time Kieran dodged, not wishing to have another hole in his body. He slung his black bow off of his shoulder, feigning a fair fight. He ducked just in time to avoid a shaft in his skull, and quickly pulled his own arrow from its quiver. He loaded and fired, but the boy jumped back and the arrow only hit the log where he had previously been. Kieran frowned. This boy was defiantly of Frigus origin and not by ancestor either. His agility and long distance preference for fights was proof of that. The fight continued in that way, each dodging and firing arrows, pulling extra ones from trees when they ran out, but Kieran got tired of the game quickly. He only had twelve minutes left. Crouching, he fired low, aiming for the feet of the younger man. He jumped back, but not before the arrow caught the sole of his shoe, causing him to slip on the mossy rocks and land painfully on his back. Kieran took his chance while the youth was winded, and drew his short sword, quickly crossing the battleground and placing it at the boy's neck.

"_You're so young…shame you have to die. You shouldn't have gotten in my way._" Kieran punctuated his sentence with a destructive grin. The lad beneath him obviously didn't understand the words of an Atrumian, but understood the elder's intent. The youth hadn't even been taught his native language. How sad. Unfortunately for Kieran, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings until it was too late.

-

Dark knew the man hadn't heard him. No, he had been to focused on pinning Satoshi to the ground, and now had a sword to the said blunette's neck. He swung his sword, but the stranger heard it whistle through the air and jumped back, but he wasn't quick enough. Dark's blade made a long, deep cut across the man's torso, but the short sword managed to impale itself into Satoshi's shoulder as the man moved. The man seemed surprised to see Dark there, and knew he was no match for two fighters, especially since they now both had swords. Turning he fled again, but Satoshi was already getting up, pulling the dagger from his shoulder and pursing his prey again, Dark not far behind. It was only twenty meters to the wall however, and the man quickly made his way over it. The duo stopped, knowing that if they crossed the stone hedge, they would immediately be killed by the Atrumians. The man gave a grin and a bow.

"_'Twas a good fight, my prince. I look forward to when you return to us._" Neither boy understood the strange words flowing from the bandit's mouth, but before they could demand to know what it meant, the man was off and running again.

Sad to say, both had forgotten about Satoshi's wound in the short amount of time it had taken them to reach the wall. It was a through-and-through, and the younger soon fainted from blood loss, collapsing against the taller one. Dark sank down to the forest floor, supporting the dead-weight in his arms, Satoshi's head resting against his shoulder. And that was how Mirain found them when she got the alarm from Daisuke and Krad.

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MW- _/takes deep breath/_ HA! I'm done:D Thanks to _Angel Born of Darkness_, **moroitsubasa**, _Phantom Fox_**D.N.Angel lover**, _Split Persona_, and **Ihni** for their reviews! I appreciate them so much, thank you for supporting me in writing this fic!

**Note: A link to the map of the countries is now on my bio page. Please check it out.**

Thank you and review please!


	5. Book I, Part IV

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. Do not flame me please. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing.

* * *

The waking process was slow and painful. The healing salve that had been applied while sleep had still had a grip now made itself known with a strong burning sensation. Satoshi stifled a pained gasp and the urge to from his body to move. Moving right now would probably make the pain worse, so he resisted, no matter how stiff he was. He also fought the notion to open his eyes. His mind protested at the thought of sleep regaining its hold, but Satoshi kept his eyes tightly shut. He wavered on the border between sleeping and waking for a long time, at one point aware of a cool hand on his forehead, but the next time there was nothing. When he finally did open his eyes, he figured it to be around mid-afternoon, judging by the amount of sunlight that was streaming in through the windows. Ignoring the pain this time, he rolled on his side and glanced around. It looked like someone had brought him back to his own room, but there was no one else around to ask how long he had been out. He pulled his arms under his body and pushed himself up, grimacing at the pain that ripped through his shoulder but he kept at it. He stayed like that for a few moments, his weight balanced between his hands and knees, before slowly sitting back on his heels. Releasing a slow breath, Satoshi the time to look around again. He was defiantly back in his own room, which meant Mirain was probably somewhere else in the house. He pulled his legs out from underneath his body and swung them over the edge of the bed. It had rained recently, he could tell by the cold of the floorboards below his feet as he padded down the hallway, his bare feet hardly making any noise against the wood. Satoshi found Mirain asleep on the daybed in the den. Sighing and smiling slightly, he draped a blanket over her and wandered into the kitchen to find some food.

-

Kieran entered the palace market mid-morning on the third day since he had crossed the border. Despite the fact that the artic sun was just beginning to shine through the snowy fog, voices called out to him from all sides. They offered him everything from fruit to 'escort' services, their frozen breath joining the fog that hid their faces from him. He pressed on though, ignoring them and fingering the scrolls hidden inside his robe. The crunch of snow under his feet alerted the castle guards that he had arrived, and they moved quickly to open the gates, and it clanged shut behind him when he had passed through. Kieran surveyed the ice garden that now stood between him and the actual palace, staring in wonder at the trees and flowers that had been carved out of the ice. But the extra weight in his pocket mad itself known again and hurried on, knowing he could look at the ice sculptures at another time. Right now, there was important business to be conducted. The main doors swung open at he touch and also shut behind him, but he hesitated in the grand hall, looking around nervously as the candles flickered and the shadows around him moved.

"Lost?" Kieran started and turned quickly to fact the mocking voice. It was Kayal, the daughter of the former king's brother. By Leto, he hated her. Studying her, he noticed she was once again dressed in boys clothes and her slate-coloured was tied back in a simple ponytail instead of braided or in a bun. Kayal couldn't act like a proper lady to save her life. She was, however, still waiting for a response to her question.

"I'm looking for His Highness," Kieran said stiffly, fidgeting as the candles flickered again.

"Kei likes his darkness," Kayal smirked as she noticed his reaction. She ignored the shadows dancing around her as she turned to leave. "That old paedophile should be in the main throne room," she called back before disappearing outside. Kieran made a face at her back, but headed for the main throne. He was late already.

-

It was early evening when Dark stopped by. Mirain was still passed out on the couch at that point in time, so Satoshi was glad for the company even though he would never say so aloud.

"Krad and Daisuke went back to their respective countries this morning," Dark said lowly, trying not to wake the sleeping woman in the next room. They were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, Dark catching Satoshi up on what he had missed.

"How are they," the blunette asked. Dark shrugged.

"Dai-chan was pretty worried about you, and Krad was unusually protective of Dai, but I can't say much else change." Satoshi smirked slightly, quietly assessing the duo's relationship. They sat like that for a while, letting the silence talk for them before Dark broke it.

"You feeling well enough to meet me the day after tomorrow?" he asked.

"I think so. I feel a lot better," the younger confessed, "Why?"

"No reason, just come to the royal gardens." Dark smiled. Satoshi was immediately suspicious but said nothing more on the subject.

-

It was early evening when Kieran left the palace. He was slightly ashen still and no longer had the scrolls in his possession, but for some reason he felt better without them. He couldn't say he was surprised when an arrow passed millimetres in front of his face and he caught a glimpse of slate-coloured hair before his attacker disappeared. But it didn't matter now. She would die. All of them would.

* * *

ME- All right! This is more of a transition chapter in case you didn't realize. I promise that the next more interesting chapter will be up in less than four days. I promise! Thankies to **Angel Born of Darkness**, _Phantom Fox_, **StAnThEpLuNgErMaN**, _Satoshi-sama_, **Ihni**, and _D.N.Angel_ lover for your reviews! Reviews make me happy.

Chapter 6 preview: _Satoshi pushed his way through the throngs of people who were running for safety within the palace walls. The screaming was closer now, which meant so were the attackers. He could hear Dark yelling his name, but he knew the prince would be stopped by the guards if the elder tried to come after him. Checking to make sure that his rapier was secured to his belt this time around, Satoshi pressed on. He stopped dead when he caught his first glimpse of the attackers. It was possible…was it? He caught a brief glimpse of movement to his right and he turned quickly, immediately recognizing the man who had attacked them four days ago…_


	6. Book I, Part V

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. Do not flame me please. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing.

**A/N- **Okay, so it wasn't four days. XD After I finished chapter four...I guess I couldn't stop writing. Enjoy this chapter! I'll try to get the next chapter soon.

* * *

The screaming started shortly before noon. The minutes before were peaceful however, and gave to hint to the impending danger. Satoshi and Dark were sitting quietly in the gardens when it happened. More correctly, Satoshi was sitting. Dark was trying to circle the fountain by balancing on the small rim that kept the water within. It was a miracle he hadn't fallen in yet, Satoshi observed. The younger was actually trying to read the book that was open in his lap, but for some reason his attention kept drifting to the amethyst eyed boy who was currently trying to keep his balance on one foot, the other hanging dangerously close over the water. More specifically, why the elder had asked him here in the first place. Satoshi smiled secretly to himself as Dark regained his balance and stumbled the last few steps that completed his circle. With that task accomplished, he promptly fell off the narrow wall onto the ground a couple feet below and ice blue eyes drifted back to the page in front of them. There was a pause, in which Satoshi discovered he had read the same sentence eight times already, and then Dark was standing above him. He looked up, staring quite calmly at the taller boy, but inside he was confused. Was Dark finally going to tell him why they were here?

"We need to talk," the elder said, for once a serious tone in his voice. Satoshi knew he couldn't hide the surprise that flickered quickly across his face and politely closed his book. There was a slight pause before Dark started up again.

"I've been thinking…" he stopped again, obviously unsure of what to say.

"Yes…?" Satoshi prompted, slightly worried that something might be wrong. Dark was silent for another few seconds before he suddenly leaned down and Satoshi had a sudden flash of understanding.

The kiss was short and sweet. Satoshi was unsure of how to react at first, but once his mind kick started itself, he realized that unconsciously he had been craving this from his friend as well, so he responded. They were cut short however when the clock struck four minutes to noon.

-

The first scream had a note of hysteria to it as well as panic. They broke apart quickly, trying to regain their breath as their heads snapped in the direction of the scream. They realized quickly that it came from the village, and that there was more than one person screaming now. In a flash, they were on their feet and running for the wall turrets, leaving a book fallen on the ground, its pages fluttering in the breeze. Soldiers were already congregating by the stone wall that protected the castle, and the smell of burning wood assaulted their senses as they got closer. The stairs were taken two at a time and before long the crown prince and Satoshi were leaning over the edge, staring down at the carnage below. On the inside of the wall, Satoshi could see his 'mother', Mirain, ordering and arranging the troops as they prepared to march. On the outside, he saw a crowd of village people hurrying to the safety of the castle, chaos and mass panic everywhere. The outskirts of the village were already on fire, as well as some of the fields. There was somewhere around one hundred and twenty men closing in on the crowd, slaying anyone who crossed their path, whether man, woman, child, or elder. Satoshi looked back and forth between the two scenes and figured almost immediately that the soldiers wouldn't be able to get to the intruders in time. The crowd would be too much for them. Quickly making up his mind, he turned to the boy next to him and grabbed his elbow, tearing Dark's eyes away from the scene unfolding below them.

"Do you trust me?" the blunette asked, his eyes flashing with determinacy. The taller nodded, not quite catching Satoshi's drift. Satoshi reached up and undid a small silver necklace from his neck that had previously been hidden by his short collar and that Dark had never seen before.

"Take care of this for me," he whispered, placing it in Dark's palm. It was at that point that the elder realized what the younger was going to do, and he quickly grabbed Satoshi's arm.

"'Toshi, you can't do this, you'll get---" he was cut off by a pair of lips against his. Satoshi took the distraction to pry Dark's hand off of his arm, and when he pulled back, he also stepped out of grabbing range. With a quick "trust me" he turned and was gone.

-

On the way down, he took the stairs two at a time again, leaping the last five and wrenching the door open. Villagers were everywhere, their fear gnawing on them and the moved as quickly as they could away from the front gates. Getting through them was easy, but the front gates were harder to get by. He pressed his body up against the door jam and suddenly he was outside the safety that the stone walls offered.

Satoshi pushed his way through the throngs of people who were running for safety within the palace walls. The screaming was closer now, which meant so were the attackers. He could hear Dark yelling his name, but he knew the prince would be stopped by the guards if the elder tried to come after him. Checking to make sure that his rapier was secured to his belt this time around, Satoshi pressed on. He stopped dead when he caught his first glimpse of the attackers. It wasn't possible…was it? He caught a brief glimpse of movement to his right and he turned quickly, immediately recognizing the man who had attacked them four days ago.

"You," he snarled viciously, his mind still telling him that he had a score to settle. The man seemed surprised to see him, and seemed to know that Satoshi would kill him at first chance, for he turned and fled back towards his own people. Satoshi pursued him, disposing of a few intruders as he did so. The man had made it to his destination, a white horse with a tall man on top and a beige horse with a shorter soldier on it. He could tell that the rider of the beige horse was a woman by her stature, but he couldn't figure why she seemed to be watching the scene with disdain. It didn't matter though, he thought, as he pulled his bow from his shoulder and lined up his shot. It seemed the man on the white horse was the leader of the attack. He would have to die. But for now…Satoshi let the arrow fly.

-

Kayal could honestly say that Kieran never knew what hit him. One second he was talking to Kei, desperately trying to explain something about a boy, and the next he had an arrow through his throat and he was a dead man standing. Kei seemed appalled and stunned at the same time, but they both directed their attention to where the arrow had flown from. She stared in silent surprise. He was alive! He was, he was! She had been right all this time! A quick look at Kei's face confirmed her suspicions, for his face was contorted in rage and slight fear. Turning her head back to the sight in front of her, she saw the threat right away. She called out to the boy, but she was too late, and the rope had been wrapped around his throat. He accidentally released the arrow he had notched and Kayal knew at that point it was her time. She veered her horse to the side, but the point slid between the scales of her armour and she felt the air forced from her body as the arrow pierced her lung. She slipped from her horse and landed on the hard ground with a grunt of pain. She saw the woman running for the struggling boy and wanted to call out again, but the blood was already flooding her airway…

-

Satoshi struggled with his attacker from behind, silently cursing himself for letting himself be snuck up upon. Suddenly the line was slack and some one was grabbing his shirt to keep him upright.

"You idiot!" Mirain yelled over the din as Atrum's soldiers pushed their way past the crowd, "You could have gotten yourself killed!" Although she appeared angry on the outside, Satoshi knew she had just been worried sick and knew that her son could take care of himself.

"Get back to the castle quickly. Someone's waiting for you," she ordered and he nodded weakly, stumbling a little as she let go to go join the battle. Regaining his balance, he turned to go, but a weak tug brought him back around. It was the woman soldier from the opposing side, and Satoshi could see his broken shaft protruding from her side and knew that there was no chance for her. She seemed to be trying to say something and he bent down to hear, being cautious in case she pulled a blade.

"My…prince," she gasped out, surprising Satoshi with her fluency in Atrum's language. "I knew you were alright," she said around the blood that was flooding her mouth, "Your mother would have been proud of what you've become." She was gasping for breath now but had enough energy to smile up at him.

"You knew my mother," Satoshi's confusion was evident in his voice. She nodded very slowly.

"Best woman I've ever known," she said slowly, "Best...aunt…and mother." Satoshi froze.

"What's your name?" he asked slowly, almost dreading her answer. She just smiled.

"Remember the name Kayal," her voice was fainter now, "Make…Kei…fear the name Hikari (1)" As she went limp in his arms, Satoshi knew he was truly alone now.

-

He barely made it through the front gates, collapsing into the warm embrace that waited for him.

"You're a trouble magnet aren't you," Dark's voice was making a sad attempt of trying to sound funny, but was overridden with worry. Satoshi just laughed softly, sadly, clinging to the warm body that now served as his anchor. They stayed like that for a few minutes, listening to the last of their soldiers retreat within the walls and the gates shut soundly behind them.

"'Toshi?" Dark was calling him. He could hear Mirain too, as she came up to them. And Satoshi was unsure why or when he started crying, but he just let the tears flow.

* * *

(1)- Yes, Satoshi's last name is still Hikari. For the sake of the story, Krad's last name is going to be Asahi, which means morning sun. 

ME- _/coughs/_ Right, I think this getting too cliché. -.- But…this is just the beginning. :P Thanks to **Phantom Fox**, and _Angel Born of Darkness_ for their reviews (even though I didn't give you guys much time to review XD). Please review now though!


	7. Book I, Part VI

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

* * *

"You need to stop skulking around." Satoshi ignored Dark's words and kept his eyes closed. He could feel Dark threading his fingers through the light blue hair, but Satoshi ignored them, concentrating on the face that had invaded his dreams in the two nights since the battle. The slate hair, the ice blue eyes, the pale skin covered in blood. Satoshi growled lowly and sat up rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. It did no good, the face and the words were still there. Kayal. That was her name, at least the name she had told him. And now she was dead. Damn it! Satoshi twisted his torso around and punched the wall that the bed was resting against. He had killed her. It was his entire fault.

Dark watched impassively from the side, using his training as a child to cover up the volley of emotions he was feeling. Pain, worry, love, and fear were just a few of them. He had been watching Satoshi tear himself up in silence for the past two days and it was scaring Dark out of his mind. However, Dark knew the younger boy would refuse any help that would be offered to him, so he kept silent. The only one who snap Satoshi out of this mood now was Mirain, and she wasn't here. Rather, she was on reconnaissance. The village had suffered greatly from the attack, and it was her duty as captain of the Imperial Guard to help rebuild it. Dark could tell that she was worrying about her son though. Dark flinched as Satoshi turned violently and punched the stone wall. Dark felt his heart wrench at the sight of hurting cerulean eyes. The blue swirled with unshed tears and a torment of thoughts. Glancing away, Dark pulled himself up off of the bed and excused himself to go get some food for the both of them.

Satoshi heard Dark excuse himself, and he heard the door shut, but he made no move except to flop backwards onto the bed. He knew Dark was worried about him. This wasn't normal behaviour, and it only hurt him in the end. He slung his arm across his eyes, exhaling slowly. He heard the door open again and the bed sunk down by his feet.

"I need to go." Dark glanced over at Satoshi as he placed the bowls on the chest at the end of the bed.

"Go?" he asked, turning and lying down on his side so that he was between Satoshi and the wall. Blue eyes cracked open underneath the arm and slide to the side to look at amethyst.

"Go to the Ice Kingdom. We all know I don't belong here." Dark just let his gaze rest on Satoshi's face.

"Yes we do," he replied, reaching up and pulling the younger boy's arm away from his face, "But we've known that since you were a little boy. I don't see why it's so important now." Satoshi stared sadly back at the elder.

"It's…complicated," he said finally. "That girl…Kayal, what she said…"

_"Best woman I've ever known," she said slowly, "Best...aunt…and mother."_ Dark watched Satoshi's face, searching for the emotions that flooded the eyes but never touched the skin.

"'Toshi…" he whispered, "'Toshi, what did she say to you?"

"I think…" the blunette replied, "I think we were related." Dark blinked.

"Were?"

"Well, she's dead now isn't she?" Satoshi replied, suddenly cross. He yanked the pillow out from under his head and aimed for Dark. The purple-haired boy caught the end and smirked at the younger from under the cushion, eyes glinting mischievously, and Satoshi froze. Had Dark always looked like _that_? The elder took advantage of the blunette's momentary distraction and pinned the smaller to the bed.

"How are you going to get across the border? The Ice people aren't really accepting anyone right now. Fear of counter-attack you know," he said, settling down on Satoshi's chest.

"Still trying to figure that part out," Satoshi threw back, wriggling around to get out from underneath Dark.

"Well…I don't think they'd attack a woman…" the elder murmured thoughtfully, ignoring the other's struggles, which had suddenly ceased.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" The voice was low, with a heavy undertone of danger. Dark grinned and leaned down so that they were almost nose-to-nose.

"Well…you do have rather feminine legs," he purred, squeezing Satoshi's calf for extra measure and extracting an embarrassed yelp. Satoshi wrenched his leg from Dark's grasp before wrapping said legs around Dark's waist and flipping the bigger boy off of him and onto the floor. In a single moment, Satoshi was up off the bed and their positions had been switched.

"Say that again," the blunette growled from his perch on Dark's chest, "and I will kill you." The elder smiled as he freed one of his arms.

"I don't doubt you," he mumbled in reply as his arm slid to the back of Satoshi's neck and brought him down for a kiss.

-

Kei Hiwatari was furious. More than that, he was absolutely livid. He didn't take to lying well, especially when it ended up threatening his role. As the Shadow Kingdom's renowned Imperial Guard flooded from the gates he had ordered the retreat, glaring at Kayal's body as he rode away. The attack had originally been planned to gain some land, but Kei hadn't guaranteed on _him_ being there. Oh no, he was supposed to be dead. A low growl escaped his throat as a servant girl rushed to get out of his way and he slammed open the door that led down to the lower recesses of the ice castle. He followed the torch-lit path down, down, down, into the depths of the castle to where the Oracle made her home. She must have foreseen his coming, for she was staring expectantly at the door when he yanked it open.

"Towa!" he barked out, making his bad mood clear. She gave him a slight smile before turning away.

"What can I do for you, _King_ Hiwatari?" she asked, stressing the 'king'. Kei flinched slightly. Only she knew. Only Towa no Shirube.

"Towa," Kei said, a little less harshly, "Why is he still alive?"

"He?" she asked, her smile showing through in her eyes and voice. He twitched. Typical of her to play dumb with him.

"You know who!" he snapped, "The true heir to this kingdom. Prince Satoshi!"

"Ah," Towa said, turning fully around to face him, "So you can say his name." Kei bristled but she waved it off. "He's alive because destiny wants him to be alive."

"You told me he was dead!"

"I told you what my visions told me!" her voice grew more hostile with every word, "And I knew that if I told you at a later date you would kill me."

"Well, be glad I'm not killing you now!" Kei snapped as he left, slamming the door behind him. Towa flinched as the wood vibrated with the force of the slam before walking slowly over to the reflecting pool in the middle of the chamber. The pool showed the image of both princes, the one of ice held in the protective embrace of the one of shadow. Sighing, she allowed her hand to ghost over the top of the water.

"Our only hope," her voice whispered out as the image faded away among the ripples.

* * *

MW- I'm not dead! I swear! I just had problems. 1) Mother's in hospital (of course, she decided not to tell me until 2 weeks after she was admitted ..) so I had to fly over to visit her. 2) Finals. Kills all brain activity. 3) Bone spur in hand. Hurts like hell. This chapter was really hard to type out ;-; So! Now that almost all those have been resolved and I'm back home, I will try and update faster! Review please!

Thanks to: **Phantom Fox**, _D.N.Angel lover_, **Ihni**, and _Angel Born of Darkness_ for your reviews!


	8. Book I, Part VII

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

* * *

It was just past midnight and the moon was high in the night sky. Crickets chirped out their dew-dipped sonatas and the stars shone out from their place in the jewelled sky. But even on a night like this, the feeling of the calm before the storm hung around in the air like a thick fog. Satoshi felt it, but even more so, he felt the sharp pangs of guilt that pierced him as he slipped from Dark's embrace from where they had fallen asleep on the bed. He crept silently over the floorboards, avoiding those that creaked as he made his way to the shirt that he had discarded earlier in the mid-afternoon heat. Now though, the outside air was quite cool and he shuddered as the fabric slipped over his frame, shielding him from the wind that blew in. He grabbed his boots from the floor and sat down to pull them on. As he laced them up, Satoshi looked up and stared almost sadly at Dark's still sleeping frame. Sighing, he pulled himself to his feet and pulled his resolve together while he was at it. He crept back over to the bed and placed a feather soft kiss on Dark's forehead as a form of apology. As Satoshi pulled back, a hand grabbed his wrist and dark eyes cracked open.

"Where are you going?" Dark's voice was still groggy with sleep and the question came out more as 'Hare're you gon?' Satoshi smiled sadly down at the half-asleep figure.

"Dark. You know I have to do this. I must know," his voice came out as a reasonable tone, with undertones of pleading. Dark's glazed over eyes searched his face briefly before the hand slipped from Satoshi's wrist. Satoshi pulled the blanket up around Dark's shoulders before moving silently across the room towards the exit. He was almost at the door when Dark spoke up again,

"Re days 'n' then um comin' afer you." Satoshi chuckled softly at Dark's slurred speech but nodded his head.

"Deal. Three days," he whispered over his shoulder.

-

All the wards along the border had been replaced and were brand new, Satoshi noted as he walked along the Shadow Kingdom's side of the wall. Shivering in the breeze, he crouched down at the wall near the outskirts of Atrum, where the plains became beaches before falling into the water. The Celestial Forest provided him no cover here, and he would have to return to its canopy once he crossed the border into Frigus. But first, the wards. Satoshi flipped open the small scabbard that rested on his hip and pulled out a small but ornate and sharp knife. Holding out his index finger, he dragged the blade across the pad of his finger and smeared the swell of blood against the wall, watching as the river of red slid down the wall, eradicating the letters to the ward and the ward itself. Placing the knife back in its place, he ran his tongue along the cut to stop the bleeding. Blood was the only substance that could destroy a ward, and Satoshi was still amazed at the miniscule amount of people that had figured that out. Hell, in all of Atrum's Imperial Guard, only Mirain knew the secret. Satoshi flinched slightly at the thought of his adopted mother, but brushed it off as quickly as it came. He pushed himself over the wall, feeling chilly and a slight tingle as the magic from Frigus' side brushed along his skin and almost tried to repel him. However, it seemed to recognize the heritage of the clothing Satoshi had stolen from some ice POW's and even more so, recognized the blood that was passing through its barriers and let him pass with relative ease. Landing stealthily on the other side, Satoshi glanced around. It was amazing how the landscape had changed, from a lush midnight plain to barren dark tundra. There seemed to be no guards around and Satoshi made his way back to the Celestial forest, using the wall as his guide.

-

The sun peeked over the horizon, its early rays reaching out and finding Kei sitting in his room, dozing with the Book of Prophecy open on his lap. The sun's tendrils reached out and brushed across his face, startling him once more into the land of the waking. Inhaling the morning air, he ran his hands across his eyes and down the sides of his face as he exhaled. Groaning softly, he set the book on the desk next to his glasses and stood up to stretch. It all made sense now. After re-reading the prophecy, he had figured out why the Power had eluded him all these years. All, and it stressed _all_, of the Royal Family had to die, for they were the only ones that held the Power within them. Once they were all dead, the Power would gather in one spot to regroup from the next line of worthy ones, and that was the only point that the Power could be harvested by a mortal and used against fellow mortals. Kei peered out over the sleeping city in deep thought. The king and queen, their oldest son and daughter, and now Kayal were all dead. The only one that lay in his way now was the youngest prince of the Kingdom of Frigus.

"He probably has no clue about his heritage," Kei mused aloud, "He seemed quite comfortable in Atrum…he'll just have to have an accident. After all, he most likely doesn't suspect a thing." Kei didn't even stop to think of how wrong he was.

-

As Kei spoke out his window to the rising sun, the young prince was just passing the River Witchtrial which ran in from the sea and lay just north-west of the capital. Satoshi had already passed many small towns, some of which were already awake, and no one had paid him a second glance. He was just now beginning to sense how at home he felt here, how he felt like these people were his own, even if he had grown up among Shadow folk. He could already see the sparkle of the city of ice in the distance as the sun reflected off of it. Satoshi quickened his pace, wanting to get to the capital before the sun set. Soon however, he picked up the distinct sound of horse hooves behind him and turned to see a cart rolling up the very snow-packed road he was following. A woman and man were sitting in the front of the cart, the back laden with monotropa, or the snow plant.

"_Hello!_" The woman called out cheerfully as the cart rolled nearer. Satoshi briefly thanked his interests in language and Mirain for agreeing to teach him the Ice language before he responded.

"_Greetings,_" he called back politely.

"_Where are you headed?_" she asked as the cart rolled to a stop beside Satoshi. He half turned and pointed towards the direction of the shining city. The woman opened her mouth halfway in understanding and nodded.

"_Would you like a ride? We're heading there ourselves._" The man's voice was gruff but held a tone of friendliness that Satoshi found striking.

"_I wouldn't like to impose,_" he said, bowing slightly. The woman laughed.

"_Don't be silly!_" she said, "_We'd be happy for your company. Please?_"

"_If you insist, madam,_" Satoshi gave another slight bow before climbing in the back of the cart. And then they were off again, this time at a faster pace.

-

Kei saw the horse cart roll into the marketplace below from his vantage point but paid it no mind. It was only after he had turned away from the window that he realized whose face he had seen in the back of the cart. But by the time he turned back around, the boy was gone and the cart just held two people.

-

Satoshi thanked the couple as he leapt of the cart at the main gates of the city. He had seen the man looking down on the city from the windows high above and was not interested in attracting attention from royalty just yet. He slipped stealthily into the alley and maneuvered his way around. It would take a couple of hours for him to completely navigate the narrow streets, but right now he just wanted to get a feel of the place.

It was nearly noon when Satoshi stopped to rest. He was still two levels away from the castle, but he needed a breather. He had been on his feet for almost twelve hours now and had used up half of his first day away from Dark. He paused in the doorway of an abandoned house. Or at least, that's what he thought. As he stepped away, the door opened behind him. Satoshi tried to turn, but it was no use as a slender, pale hand wrapped itself around his nose and mouth and a warm tickling sensation flooded his senses. As he fell into darkness, he found himself briefly wondering what that sweet smell was.

* * *

MW- I think I'm trying to make up my lack of updating up to you guys. :( Thanks to _…_ and **Satoshi-sama** for reviewing. I KNOW YOU PEOPLE ARE READING THIS! Please, please, please review this time. This author needs an emotional boost.

_**IMPORTANT: Please check my profile for news on updating issues.**_


	9. Book II, Part I

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

* * *

Satoshi's first waking thought was '_what the hell happened?'._ After his mind had caught up with his body and he remembered what had transpired, his second thought was '_why the hell am I the designated damsel in distress?'_. When his rational side began to take over once more, and his third thought materialised as '_where am I?'_. Trying to get a better look at his surroundings, Satoshi struggled to push himself up, only to fall right back down again. His head pounded and reverberated within his skull as his stomach did cartwheels and threatened to deposit that morning's meagre meal on the floor. Satoshi groaned and closed his eyes tightly, trying unsuccessfully to block out the pain. A spicy-sweet scent reached his nostrils and he inhaled it, surprised to find that it relieved his headache somewhat.

"You should open your eyes. I will need you to sit up." The voice was soothing and Satoshi felt compelled to open his eyes despite the agony. Cerulean stared up into kind green eyes that inspected him as they helped him sit up.

"Here," the woman handed him a small teacup containing a dark red liquid. Upon further inspection, he discovered that it was the source of the spicy-sweet scent. He took a tentative sip of it and felt the immediate relief of his headache and his stomach settling. Satoshi drank a little more, watching the woman from the corner of his eye. She seemed to be waiting for something to happen, watching him carefully, and he abruptly thought to be more careful around her. But that thought came too late. Suddenly, the teacup dropped to the floor, smashing against the tiles and spreading the red liquid across the floor. As it seeped through the cracks, Satoshi grasped at his throat, startled at the sudden numbness that seemed to spread up from the back of his throat to the front of his mouth. He tried to speak, demanding to know what was going on, but his mouth refused to work and his tongue lay motionless. So instead, he shot her an accusing glare, to which she only responded with a smile.

"I'm sorry," she said as she stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of her dress, "But it was necessary. You can't talk because _he_ might hear. He has eyes and ears everywhere. If he discovered you were here, he might kill you." Satoshi blanched, praying to Crnobog that he wasn't stuck with some crazy old brood. Now that he thought about it though…Satoshi took a good look at his captor. Her hair was white, but her body was that of a young woman. He had heard that Seers and Magicians had premature white hair, but this was the first time he had seen its effects. The woman now stood over the fire pit, arranging some herbs.

"I knocked you out using some arctic poppy," she said suddenly, and Satoshi realized she was talking about what she had used on him. "When you fainted though, you were a bit too heavy for me and you hit your head on the pavement." She laughed nervously. "I figured you would have a headache when you woke up because of that, and poppy usually causes an upset stomach." She finished arranging and began to bind the herbs together in one skin bundle. "I made a tea from zingiberaceae to help with the headache, and added some aven to help the stomach, and put some saxifrage in for the speaking problem." The blunette stared at her back, wondering why she was telling him all this. And 'the speaking problem'? She was insane, there was no 'speaking problem'! He scowled at her. Turning around, she smiled brightly back.

"I supposed I should introduce myself," she bowed slightly; "My name is Towa no Shirube, and I am the Seer for the Kingdom Frigus. You may call me To-To though."

-

Dark sighed softly, making sure no one else had heard him. The board meeting was long and boring, the only thing of interest being the recent attack from Frigus. But even then, Dark didn't need to be debriefed on what had happened. He had seen it first hand. So, instead of concentrating on the amount of grain in surplus there was in the kingdom (compared to last year), Dark chose to worry about something else. Namely, Satoshi. The blue haired boy had wasted two of his three days, and Dark was beginning to wonder if the younger would make the deadline. Granted, three days wasn't a lot of time, but Dark knew that it took one day to get to the capital, about one to investigate, and one to get back, for a total of three. True, the investigation might take longer, but Dark figured that they could always go back later…emphasis on '_they'_.

"…does that sound good, Your Highness?" Dark blink owlishly at the speaker, trying to conjure up what the man had just said. They were on grain…or had they moved onto something else now? Dark panicked and glanced quickly at Mirain. The Head of the Royal Guard nodded quickly behind the speaker's back, showing that it was good.

"Uh…yea, yea, that sounds _great_," Dark stressed the 'great' and grinned nervously. However, the man didn't seemed to notice and beamed under the praise. Dark sighed inwardly in relief. Silently thanking Crnobog for such a great Head of Guard, he sent a grateful look in Mirain's direction, and it was returned by a small nod and smile. Maybe it was time to pay attention…

-

"…so then, about two weeks after you were born, the High Magistrate decided he would overthrow the ruling family, namely the Hikari's. In the middle of the night, he began to kill off everyone, starting with the king. The Magistrate had, and has, many friends who helped him accomplish this. The queen, Rio, escaped his sword briefly, and pulled you from your crib, desperate to get you to safety. Rio handed you off to your sister, who then took you to the border and hid you among the trees on Frigus' side of the Celestial Forest. Your sister was killed though, when she was found hiding in a nearby barn. In the end, only two people survived, you not included. Your cousin, named Kayal, and myself. Your cousin was left alive because she was a baby, and technically had no right the throne. However, she was killed a few days ago in the attack on Frigus." Satoshi nodded, and bent over the piece of parchment To-To had given him. When he held it up again, it read '_Yes, I know. I was the one who killed her._' To-To smiled sadly and nodded in slight understanding.

"That's what I heard from Kei," she said. Satoshi nodded and began to write again.

'_Why are you telling me all this though?'_

"Well," Towa started, "The Hikari's were all born with a wonderful power, which we named the 'Star Power'. Kei has been trying to harness this power for years, but hasn't been able to because there are still pure-blooded Hikari's alive. The main reason for the attack on Frigus was to kill Kayal. However, he did not expect you to still be alive. There are more Hikari supporters than Hiwatari supporters, you know."

'_I get that, but what else do you want me to do?'_

"A revolution of course." Satoshi blanched at how smoothly she said it. He made to write something down, but Towa held up her hand and continued. "If you die, we all die. The Star Power has the power to give _and_ to take life. Kei would use it to take life, not give. The only way to ensure your life, and ensure that the Star Power stays out of Kei's hands, is to restore you to power. You are the one with the legal right to the throne."

'_Wouldn't being king make me more susceptible to being attacked?'_ Satoshi asked.

"Not with all of us looking over you."

'_How do expect me to do this?'_ Towa shook her head at his question.

"We'll discuss that at a later time, right now…" she handed him a heavy leather bound book, "Take this and study it carefully. It has all you will ever need to know in between those two covers. But for now, you must run." Satoshi shot her a quizzical look, his parchment stuck underneath the book and his mouth still numb.

"Kei knows you're here," To-To said, her face grave, "The farmers I recruited to bring you here will take you back as well. Kei will not be far behind. Run for all you're worth, and remember, _do not die!_"

* * *

**MW-** Whee! We're on Book 2! There are three 'books' that I have going in this story. All of the herbs I mentioned in Towa's little 'speech' are real herbs that have those affects. I would like to thank **Split Persona**, _Seika_, **Daisuke Captain Oblivious**, _Toshi-kun_, **Mizuki hikari**, and _Wise wolf_ for reviewing! Thank you all for putting up with me in these last few months. Please review! 


	10. Book II, Part II

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

**A/N- Thank god for caffeine, or else you would have never gotten this chapter! _-proceeds to fall over asleep-

* * *

_**Several pairs of shoeski's crunched over the hard-packed snow, the owners alert, their cold eyes searching the near barren landscape for any sign of movement. They reasoned that the boy could not have gotten far, and they kept their weapons ready for any resistance. Seeing no movement in the white of the snow, the captain signaled to his guards and they headed for the small forest of low growing trees.

Satoshi shivered violently from the cold as he heard the steps fade away towards the south. As he struggled to dig his lower half out of the snow, he wondered how things could have gone so awry so fast. He was safe for now, but it was only a matter of time before they figured out what had happened. He paused his digging to blow slightly warm air into his hands, trying to unfreeze his fingers. It may be that he was of the Ice People, but his body was unaccustomed to this kind of weather, especially when he was buried in snow. As he resumed his struggle to get free, he thought back on what had happened; trying to figure out what he could have changed…

-

Towa had snuck him successfully back to the young couple who had given him a ride earlier, and Satoshi had hidden himself well in the monotropa that had not been sold at the market. They had made it passed the gate sentries with relative ease, and were halfway to the border before they came upon the checkpoint. In truth, it had been unexpected, for the soldiers did not have much warning about the search, and therefore, should have taken more time to set up. However, it seemed the troops were better prepared and trained than originally thought. They had been quick to mobilize and set up the necessary arrangements for the pursuit.

It had been a rookie soldier who had found him. The poor boy hadn't even had a chance to open his mouth before he found Satoshi's feet planted in his chest and he was propelled several feet backwards from the force. Satoshi leapt out of the cart and over the still groaning body as he sprinted across the tundra, trying not to sink too far into the snow. He could hear the guards giving chase, but he dared not look back. Instead, he concentrated on a goal: get up the next snow bank…and the next…and the next…He must have climbed up five snow banks before he slipped and fell down the other side of the fifth. The snow had collapsed under the weight of his complete body and dropped him into a hollow burrow underneath before piling down on top of him. At first he tried to frantically dig a tunnel through the frozen crystals…and then the guards came down the hill and Satoshi had frozen in fear. They had poked and prodded the mound of snow before deciding that their prey had not fallen in, at which point they continued on their journey.

-

Figuring that he could have changed nothing, that he would have been more vulnerable on foot, Satoshi pushed the last scoop of snow off of his leg and stood up on trembling legs. His clothes were soaked through and provided no protection from the cold now. The blue haired boy tried unsuccessfully to stop his teeth from chattering as he pulled his head over the top of the hole. Doing a quick three-sixty degree turn, he determined that no one was in sight, and he carefully climbed up out of his last minute hideout. Trying to gain some heat by wrapping his cloak around his trembling form, Satoshi made a quick assessment of his situation. The cart had been heading to the west, and he had run south to avoid the guards. Logically, he would have to head north-west on a slight slope to get to the border. Deciding that that plan was his best bet, Satoshi set out in a north-western direction.

-

It was night when Satoshi reached the village that he estimated was a mile and a half from the border. His clothes had long since frozen stiff to his body, and his lips had a tinge of blue now, but he pressed on. Sentries were prowling every street, banging on doors and conducting random searches. The cerulean eyed boy shivered violently, looking for some place of shelter that wasn't likely to be searched. Spotting a barn, the boy made his way slowly towards it, using the shadows as cover. Once inside, Satoshi made his way quickly to the loft, struggling to climb into the rafters where he could have a view outside the building and at the same time get some rest. Sighing deeply, the boy put his head in his hands and pulled his knees up to his chest. It was the end of his third day and he had broken his promise to Dark. The older boy was probably worried sick by now and would be coming after him tomorrow. Satoshi couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. True, Dark could help him out of this current situation, but there was also that fact that Frigus had all but declared war on Atrum, and Dark would be a liability to his nation. Satoshi let out a frosty breath and closed his tired eyes, hoping for some rest.

"I don't see what the big deal is," an old tired voice creaked out and Satoshi jerked his head up as he heard footsteps crunching across the snow. Glancing quickly out the barn window, he saw an old man leading a group of three guards towards the entrance of the barn. The blunette grabbed his cloak and shook as many ice crystals out as he could before pulling the hood up and wrapping in around himself. He pushed his body back into the deepest shadows, trying to obscure his white skin that would stick out like a light in the darkness. He froze as the big door creaked open and footsteps echoed in the big expanse.

"What are you looking for?" No one bothered to answer the old man, but Satoshi could hear things being overturned and pried open. He remained as quite as possible and almost stopped breathing when he heard two footfalls come up the stairs to the loft. One was heavy and made the sounds of metal armour while the other was soft and light. There was a light shuffling and some things were knocked over.

"Do you know long it takes to stack those wheat barrels?"

"Quiet old timer," the guard snapped back a reply. There was more quiet shuffling before the heavy footfalls led away and down the steps.

"How frustrating," the elderly voice mumbled, "Have they no…" the voice dropped off briefly and Satoshi stiffened. There was silence before the voice came back, thoughtful and quiet. "I see." The light footsteps lead away, but did not retreat down the wooden stairs. There were more noises of the search…

"We're done. Keep an eye for any intruders and report them immediately to us." The new voice was cold and held no mercy in its wake. Satoshi assumed the old man had nodded, for a door slammed and the light footsteps came back.

"You can come down now. They're gone." The man's voice held no hostility, only warmth, and Satoshi felt compelled to do as the man said. He dropped his hood back and climbed down from his perch. They stood staring at each other: one shivering, the other inspecting.

"Look at you!" the elderly gentleman exclaimed quietly, "You're half frozen, and why, you're barley old enough to be my grandchild! Well now, come come, we can't stand here all night."

"What?" Satoshi asked, confused and tired. The man, who had started to walk away, looked back over his shoulder.

"You need some new clothes. And a place to hide obviously. What's your name?"

"Satoshi…" the blunette paused, remembering what Towa had told him, "Satoshi Hikari. And I need to get Atrum tonight."

"Ah," the man breathed, "Well, that changes everything. Come, we shall change your clothes and then I shall take you to Atrum personally."

-

Satoshi barely felt the cart rumble to a stop, but was brought back to full consciousness when a hand shook his shoulder non-to-gently.

"Wha…?" he mumbled, trying to rub sleep from his eyes. The elderly man laughed slightly.

"Wake up, little one. Look, we're here," the man pointed over the horses, and Satoshi craned his neck to see. Indeed, the wall could be seen just over the hill…but a soldier now stood guard over the weakened area of wards.

"I shall distract the guard," the white haired man said, "But you must get out while you still can." At Satoshi's answering nod, the older turned away, but Satoshi reached out and weakly grabbed his sleeve.

"I never got your name," the younger mumbled around a yawn.

"Hinrik, my prince. Now, we must hurry."

-

Hinrik had sufficiently distracted the guard and Satoshi was now working on pushing himself through the weak wards. As he toppled over the low wall and onto Atrum's soil, an arm followed him and grabbed onto his cloak. The blunette half-turned and saw that the guard had realized the scam and was now trying to pull the boy back over the border. Realizing there was no time to put up the wards again, he twisted violently, ripped the cloak in half as he ran. Glancing briefly over his shoulder before he entered the forest, Satoshi saw the sentry was now pushing his way through the spells, sword drawn. The boy flew through the forest, ducking low branches and leaping over fallen ones, all too aware of his pursuer. Satoshi risked a glance over his shoulder…and ran straight into a warm body. With a muffled sob, the blunette tried to push away from the arms that now restrained him, but to no avail.

"'Toshi! 'Toshi, calm down, it's just me!" Satoshi hiccupped and looked up through tears at the face he had been dying to see for the past six hours.

"Dark!" With a strangled cry, the younger collapsed into the elder's arms. Dark seemed surprised, but wrapped his arms around the lithe body non-the-less. The crackling of branches brought them out of their little reunion, however, and Dark pushed the younger behind him as he drew his sword. There was a suspenseful silence before the sentry burst through the foliage, stopping short at the sight of the prince. The man licked his lips before he issued the challenge.

"Hand over the boy."

"He belongs to me and me alone." Dark answered the challenge with his own, tightening his grip on his sword. The sentry scowled and prepared to launch himself at Atrum's prince…

"Drop your weapon!" All three froze as a voice materialized from nowhere. Two recognized the voice however, and breathed a sigh of relief. From the forest there came the Royal Guard, surrounding the trio and disarming the Frigus agent. Mirain sent a look at her son, one that clearly said 'we need to talk, young man.' Satoshi flinched but relaxed when Dark stepped in his path of vision.

"You really had me worried…" the elder trailed off as he cupped the blunette's chin.

"Shut up and kiss me," Satoshi mumbled through an exhausted fog. And Dark did just that.

* * *

**1. Shoeski's the older name for snow shoes.**

MW: Sorry this took so long, I just couldn't think of how to start up this chapter. I think it's too rushed, but I needed to get Satoshi out of Frigus. This is what happened. I think Book 2 is going to be the shortest of the three books…maybe only 4 or so chapters. Maybe more. Who knows? Not me of course! XD Thanks to _ken_, **Daisuke Captain Oblivious**, _Toshi-kun_, **WingedMoonlight**, _Split Persona_, **Mizuki hikari**, _Wise wolf_, and **Demonic.Alchemist** for your reviews! I was so excited to see how many reviews this story has gotten! They are much appreciated! Cookies for all!


	11. Book II, Part III

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

**A/N- Wiz7 brought up an interesting point…_-was waiting to see if anyone noticed it-_ Kieran doesn't/didn't know squat about Satoshi, and automatically assumed that Satoshi didn't understand what he was saying. However…Satoshi understood every…single…word. The end.**

_linebreakbecausethelinebreakthingyisn'tworkingD:_

It was a beautiful day; birds were singing, the sun was shining, kids were laughing as they played outside…and nobody cared anyway because the window was closed. Satoshi sat cross-legged on his bed, flipping through the heavy leather-bound book. Currently, he was looking for any clues to how the Hikari's came to power, as he had already looked at the family tree and read up on the overthrow/massacre of the Hikari regime. Satoshi passed said family tree on his way backwards through the book and paused, staring at the name 'Kayal'. Apparently, the woman he killed had been the daughter of the brother of the former queen…in simpler terms: she had been his cousin. The blunette pursed his lips before continuing on his trip back through history. He stopped again after a few minutes, but not to look at the yellowed pages. Cocking his head slightly, Satoshi picked up the sound of voices down in the kitchen. It seemed the young prince of Atrum had returned. Dark had hardly left his side since he had returned four days ago, but when he was called away this morning it had seemed fairly urgent. The book was closed with a resounding 'snap' and Satoshi slid off the bed, padding quietly across the room. He reached out for the handle, but stepped backwards as the door clicked open from the outside. The heavy wood swung inward, missing Satoshi by inches, but Satoshi didn't even flinch. Instead, he stared at the older boy standing across from him in the doorway. There was a moment of reticence.

"You look tired, Dark." And it was true too. The taller boy's eyes no longer shone with the mirth that usually was present, but rather with a suppressed weariness that seemed resonate off of his entire body. Dark gave a shaky laugh and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I guess I am a little drained." Satoshi nodded and stepped back to allow entrance, concern flickering briefly over his pale face before dissipating into an emotionless mask once more. Dark took a seat on the bed and pinched the bridge of his nose as the door shut and latched. Satoshi hugged the book to his chest, waiting for Dark to say something. It wasn't like the dark haired boy not to say anything. Usually he was an exuberant ball of energy that just wouldn't shut up. Now…he was so withdrawn.

"We have a slight problem."

"What sort of problem?" Satoshi asked.

"A big one," came the reply. Satoshi frowned in annoyance.

"What kind of answer is that?" he snarled. Dark shrugged helplessly and fell back on the bed.

"We received a letter from the Frigus' High Council yesterday," he explained slowly before pausing.

"…And?"

"They're claiming that we have violated the border treaty we had in place. Apparently, we kidnapped you as a young babe and were planning on using you as ransom when you were old enough. According to the council, their attack was justified because they were simply 'trying to rescue you.'"

"What utter crap." Satoshi snarled, stalking over to the window, still clinging to the book. Dark rolled onto his side to watch the younger one's back. Suddenly, the blunette turned around again.

"What are you going to do?" he asked. Dark gave a one armed shrug.

"For one," he began, "We're not about to hand you over to them .We sent letters out to Daisuke and Krad, asking for their alliance if total war breaks out. Kei knows that Krad and Daisuke always prefer to neutral and has made good friends with Queen Riku of Terra and Lord Argentine of Cilicis. If all three kingdoms join forces, we're probably doomed. It doesn't help that Queen Risa of Mercadia will usually follow her sister's decisions. We just have to hope that Krad and Daisuke will side with us and that Queen Riku has better judgment than what I'm giving her credit for." Dark took a deep breath, trying to regain what he had lost during his long winded explanation. Satoshi slowly looked down until his bangs covered his eyes.

"I see…" he mumbled. Dark watched sadly as the boy of his dreams slowly turned around to gaze out this window once more. Why was he getting the feeling this wouldn't end well at all?

-

_Several days later…_

Krad ignored the hesitant knock at the door and continued reading the letter in his hand. He was stretched out over the length over the elegant divan that occupied part of the south wall of the library near the windows. The knock came again, but he continued to ignore it and scowled. If his servants couldn't knock without being terrified, they had no business with him. His scowl only deepened further as he heard the door creak open. What part of the 'do not disturb me' vibe did they not get?

"Um…Milord?" A meek female voice asked. Krad slowly lifted his golden eyes up and glared dangerously at the maid, said eyes promising death if she didn't speak quickly. The maid squeaked and cowered behind the door jam, her eyes peeking out fearfully.

"Um…I was sent to tell you Milord…that…uh—" A low growl from Krad warned her to hurry the hell up. "LordDaisukehasarrivedandrequestsanaudiencewithyou!" She finished quickly before darting out of the room. Krad blinked in surprise before leaning back, trying to decipher the last half of the girl's sentence. Something about Daisuke…

"You know, that wasn't very nice." Speak of the devil. Krad turned his head to the side to look at the redhead in turn was staring at him with a raised eyebrow and a slightly amused look.

"I was reading," the blond mumbled in reply. Daisuke sighed and crossed the room, glancing at the parchment in the elder's hand.

"So, you got a letter from Dark too?" he asked as he shoved Krad's legs off the couch to sit down. Krad gave a small grunt of affirmation before swinging his legs back up to settle on Daisuke's lap. The redhead glared softly but made no move to shove the offending limbs off.

"What do you think?" The fire kingdom's Lord asked. Krad sighed and slung an arm over his eyes.

"I don't know what to think," he replied. "We've always tried to be the neutral countries when it comes to conflicts like these Daisuke. I don't know how Dark expects us to suddenly choose sides out of the blue. But if we remain neutral…"

"Frigus will win the war with its allies and Atrum will be left in ruins while Satoshi is carted away to death." Daisuke finished for him. Krad nodded and sat up, winding his arms around Daisuke's torso and pulling him onto his lap. The taller boy buried his face in Daisuke's shoulder.

"What should we do?" The question was muffled. Daisuke sighed and fiddled with the end of Krad's hair, pondering their situation.

"I think…" he started, "I think we should side with Atrum, but wait until the battles to start before actually joining the war. Atrum has always had a few tricks up their sleeves to avoid conflict." Krad hummed in approval against Daisuke's shoulder before pulling up to rest his chin on the junction between the neck and torso.

"I guess you have to get back to Accendo now?" he asked. Daisuke smiled in an almost innocent manner. _Almost_.

"I don't know," the redhead replied, still grinning, "It was a _long_ trip here. Maybe I could stay for a night or two?" Krad gave a feral grin.

"I don't see why not."

_linebreakbecausethelinebreakthingyisn'tworkingD: _

MW- Someone asked for more KradxDaisuke earlier…so here you go. Sorry this took so long, but school has started up again…and I moved! _­–spins in circle-_ I have room for all my junk now! This place is much more spacious, but I still stuck with the same bitch of a roommate. _­–coughs-_ Right, thanks to _moon,_ **Wise wolf,** _Mizuki Hikari,_ **Wiz7,** _The Oblivious Captain Anna,_ **MoonlightPrincess**, _Demonic.Alchemist, _and **Weinerdog of Death and Doom** for reviewing!

Reviewing, reviewing, a magical thing! The more you do it, the more you...um...

...sing?


	12. Book II, Part IV

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

**A/ N: REWRITTEN. Appears mostly the same, but I've changed a few things to make the plot more clear…and I didn't like the other plot anyway. _–grin-_**

* * *

The courtyard was chaos. People, mostly soldiers, were scattered everywhere, some running, some just dodging those who were running. Carts were piled high with goods. There was everything from food and extra clothing to every kind of sword imaginable. Satoshi watched the whole event unfold below from his vantage point in the castle. Occasionally, his eyes would stray to follow one person or another, but mostly they stayed rooted on one lone spot. Dark and Mirain stood on a raised platform in the middle of the turmoil, shouting out orders, directing traffic as best of possible, and getting ready for departure. Atrum had agreed to Solis' and Accendo's terms; the two countries would not join the fray unless more than just the Shadow and Ice kingdoms were involved. As of yet, it had not been reported that Frigus had contacted Cilicis, Mercadia, or Terra, but the fire and light kingdoms stood ready to assist anyway. Now though, Atrum had to prepare for battle, to defend their borders and to defend the young ice prince that everyone had know and admire (to some degree) over the last seventeen years. Satoshi rested his head against the cool glass in mild frustration. There they were: his mother-figure, his boyfriend, and all the people he knew from his mother's time in the army, marching off to war because of him. And what was he doing?

"Worthless," he mumbled, sliding down the wall and resting his head against his knees. Satoshi couldn't help but feel that this was his entire fault, that those people would die because of him. If he hadn't learned about his heritage, if hadn't gone to Frigus, none of this would be happening. But still…it was just 'if', 'if' , and more 'if'. Shifting so that his chin now rested on his knees, icy cobalt eyes swept the room, as if searching for an unseen answer to this problem. They landed on the large leather book. The blunette hadn't touched it since Dark's announcement the day before yesterday. Pushing himself up, Satoshi crawled over to the dresser and grabbed the book. Maybe…just maybe…

-

Frigus' army was already camped out on the snowy hilltops by the time Mirain and Dark had manoeuvred their troops to the campsites in the forest. If it was one thing Atrum had on their side, it was not numbers the two decided as they studied the opposing side.

"Looks like we'll have to resort to attacks from the shadows. Just like every other war," Mirain frowned. Dark just laughed and patted a nearby tree trunk.

"I knew there was a reason I kept these trees around," he quipped. Mirain rolled her eyes before studying the Frigus troops once more.

"I don't see armour from the other countries," she mumbled. Dark nodded in agreement.

"Probably the best thing too," he said, "They've already taken down the wards on their side." Mirain gave a small nod of acknowledgement and signalled to two nearby infantry to start erasing the wards. The duo set right two it as the Captain of the Guard turned back to the prince.

"We should retreat for now." Dark made a noise that sounded like it could have been a 'yes' and turned to follow her. As they disappeared back into the shadow of the trees, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go very, very wrong.

-

Satoshi lay on his stomach, eyes skimming the pages of the book. No matter how many times he had read the passage though, it still gave him chills.

"_It has long been known that an ancient and evil majic is connected to the life force of the _

_Hikari's, and only a Hikari can control it. The first Hikari sealed away this majic in a hidden_

_vault, with many blood seals and with this vow: 'Till the last of my bloodline breathes it's _

_last breath, this monster will remain sealed away, and the earth protected from it's terrible_

_wrath.' Another legend started soon after that vow was mad, stating that if all the Hikari's_

_were to die by another's hand, then that one would have complete control of the creature. But_

_know this: the minute the first blood seal cracks, symbolizing the last breath of the last Hikari,_

_the world's fate has been written: Doom for all eternity."_

Satoshi rolled over onto his back, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. After reading the paragraph, and connecting it to what Towa had told him, he realized that Kei Hiwatari would stop at nothing to have control of this…thing. He didn't even care about other's lives, he was so determined. A light breeze drifted into the room, flipping the pages of the book. Satoshi glanced briefly at the new page before once again concentrating on the task at hand. Suddenly, it dawn on him what he had seen and in seconds he was on his stomach again, staring at the picture that covered the first quarter of the page. Recognition slowly appeared in his eyes and his hand jerked up to his neck. Nothing. Panicked, he felt around the base of his neck before remembering: he had given the pendant to Dark during the attack on Atrum. Slowing down his breath, Satoshi read the caption underneath the pendant's picture. As he read, his eyes slowly widened in surprise and horror. If this was the case…Satoshi's jaw dropped a little. He had to get Dark away from that battlefield and away from Kei. And there was only one way to do that. Dog-earring the page, he jumped to his feet, grabbing his cloak and boots. Everything was beginning to fall together.

* * *

MW- Well, I have now written out the rest of my story and there are only **six more chapters till the end**! That's right peoples! This story is almost done:D **Expect a new chapter every weekend since I've finished all the other chapters!** Thanks _to The Oblivious Captain Anna_, **Darkfire1313**,_ KooriKitsune_, **Weinerdog of Death and Doom**, _Mizuki hikari_, **Wise wolf**, _Syumiu, _and **Lil'Andre** for reviewing.

**Attention:** Anyone who wants to see what my imagination cooked up when I was thinking of how I wanted the palaces for each country to look can go to my profile for the link!


	13. Book III, Part I

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

**A/ N: REWRITTEN. Appears mostly the same, but I've changed a few things to make the plot more clear…and I didn't like the other plot anyway. _–grin-_**

* * *

The moon was high in the sky as Satoshi dismounted the horse, not bothering to tether it to a tree. The animal was smart enough to find its way back to the castle, or at least to the troops camped out in the woods. In the distance, Satoshi could see the flickering campfires of both armies; Atrum's a little dimmer because they were in the woods. The blunette pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders before pulling up the hood, obscuring his hair and half of his face. He trembled slightly, trying to rationalize his decision in his own mind. He could almost hear Dark's voice arguing with him in his head…

_-But Satoshi, we, as soldiers, all decided we would give up our lives for you!-_

"Yes, well, it would be pointless if was all for nothing," Satoshi mumbled as he made his way towards the low wall.

_-We promised we'd protect you at all costs! Are you just going to ignore that fact?-_

"I don't need protecting. You do."

_-We haven't even started fighting yet!-_ Satoshi froze, giving a small sigh, shaking his head violently to get rid of the small voice.

"Just shut up. I can't have you fighting and Kei finding out," he whispered, pulling out a knife. He sliced the pad of his finger, making sure the blood dripped down the wards, effectively erasing them. He pushed his way through the remaining barrier, getting a small electrical shock and slight resistance in response. It took him a while to get his breath back after he stepped out on the other side, and right after he did, Satoshi stood up, trying to get a good look at his surroundings. As soon as he straightened though, he felt a sharp metal tip poking his back, followed by the gruff voice.

"Don't move."

-

The battle plans were weak. Kei scowled and tossed the papers on the table, starting to pace the floor of his tent. He wanted a quick and decisive battle, the quicker the better. He wanted the Hikari in his grasp as soon as possible. The only reason he had originally kept Kayal alive was in the hope that she would search out the boy on her own, but once that he knew where he boy was, he could have cared less about her death. Now though, she would have seemed like good bait to draw the boy out. Kei stopped suddenly and scowled at the fabric of the tent. Footsteps outside caught his attention and he turned towards the entrance as his captain pulled back the flap and entered. The man bowed low before straightening again.

"We found someone." He said shortly. Kei's face immediately showed disinterest and he waved the man to continue. "He came through the wards about one and a half miles north. He carries no weapons. He requested to see you." Kei's eyes narrowed in an icy glare at the man before shrugging. The captain swallowed visibly and backed out of the tent. A few minutes later a cloaked figure entered the tent alone. Kei stared evenly at the boy, and was pretty sure he was getting a similar look from under the hood. Frowning slightly, Kei sat down and leaned against the table.

"What do you want?" he questioned.

"I want you to stop your attack on Atrum." The boy's voice was icy with almost a hint of danger. Kei put on a strained smile.

"Now why would I do that? They have something I want." He watched the boy's posture stiffen.

"I'm aware of that," was the stiff answer. Kei kept his smile on.

"Give me one good reason." The boy hesitated, before reaching back to pull off his hood. Even Kei couldn't keep the shock off his face as the icy blue hair and cobalt eyes were revealed.

"Because they don't have what you want anymore."

-

Dawn greeted Dark with a sharp kick in the side. Suddenly awake, the prince groaned and clutched his abdomen.

"What…the hell?" he gasped out, staring up at Mirain.

"Get up. We might have a small problem." Her face was emotionless but one could pick up the strange tone in her voice if they listened close enough. Dark struggled to his feet before he was literally dragged out of his tent by the captain of the guard. They ended up close to the now warded border, Dark still trying to figure out how they got there so quickly. Glancing around, he thought he saw nothing unusual.

"What?" he asked. Mirain pointed silently towards the snow covered hills. Dark turned towards them and saw nothing. What was so unusual—wait. Nothing?

"Where'd they go?" he demanded, suddenly panicked. Mirain shrugged.

"They retreated in the middle of the night." Dark grabbed her arms.

"And what about Satoshi?" Mirain hesitated to answer before pointing silently over Dark's shoulder. He turned on his heel and stared at Satoshi's pet wolf, Keisai, who was staring forlornly over the wall. She turned her golden eyes to Dark and whimpered softly.

"We found her here this morning. The palace also reported that Satoshi and a mare disappeared last night. The mare came back alone today," Mirain's voice was soft. Dark gave no response, just buried his face in his hands.

-

Towa stared sadly into her reflecting pool, watching the fire spread across the villages. A crumbled stone tablet and broken blood seals flashed briefly across the surface of the pool before it disappeared back into the mayhem. She sighed softly and shook her head. If her vision came to pass, she would never forgive herself. Burying her face in her hands, she tried to decide what do to. Somewhere down the hall, a dungeon door slammed.

* * *

MW- I have got to be the most accident prone person ever to live. First I fall down the stairs and bruise my ribs, then I sprain my ankle really badly. All in less than a week. -_head/desk- _Anyway, I spent most of my weekend and last few days in and out of the hospital for X-Rays and junk like that. So I apologize for the lateness.Five more chapters. I almost sad to see this story ending.

Thanks to: _Weinerdog of Death and Doom_, **The Oblivious Captain Anna,** and _Darkfire1313_ for reviewing.

I know you people are reading this!! REVIEW THIS TIME PLEEEEASE!


	14. Book III, Part II

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

**A/ N: REWRITTEN. Appears mostly the same, but I've changed a few things to make the plot more clear…and I didn't like the other plot anyway. _–grin-_**

* * *

Satoshi pulled experimentally on the cuffs that kept his arms chained to the wall. They clanked noisily but nothing gave the slightest hint of giving way. Satoshi wasn't stupid, and the cuffs were cutting into his wrists already, so he wisely stopped tugging. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the cold stone wall, listening to the sound of silence. After the hectic events the last few days, the stillness seemed almost comforting, but he knew it wouldn't last. Most likely, someone was heading down here right now with the intention to kill him. The door clicked and almost seemed to confirm his thoughts. Cobalt eyes opened slowly and stared directly across at the door as it swung open. They didn't even blink as Kei entered, followed by two guards. The man smirked down at the boy, who stared back at him indifferently. Their little staring contest lasted for about a minute before Satoshi narrowed his eyes in a glare.

"What?" he snapped. Kei chuckled.

"Rather demanding for one in your position aren't you?" Satoshi mumbled something not-so-polite under his breath. Kei narrowed his eyes and bent down so that they were face to face. There was a pause before he slapped the blunette across the cheek.

"Don't talk back to me," he hissed the order. Satoshi just stared back at him, eyes promising him pain if the younger got free. Kei sat back on his heels and stared at the defiant boy.

"Do you know what I want?" he asked.

"The creature…" Satoshi mumbled. Kei grinned.

"Oh, it's much more than that," he responded, "It's all the power in the world. All contained in that one monster. I'm but a hair's breath away from holding all that power in the palm of my hand too." His eyes glinted mischievously.

"And what do you plan to do with it?" Satoshi wondered. Kei leaned forward again and cupped Satoshi's chin in his hand.

"I'm so glad you asked," he purred before leaning back. "I plan to take over the entire world, starting with Atrum, Accendo, and Solis. Their leaders are the most of a nuisance, you realize." Kei smirked before continuing, "With that creature under my control, the people will have to acknowledge for what I am: a god." Satoshi couldn't help it: he burst out laughing.

"A god?" he gasped after he regained control, "All you are is a monarch hungry for more power." The last part was spat out. Kei shrugged.

"Maybe," came his answer, "but you'll be dead soon enough and it won't matter." The man stood up and brushed himself off before addressing the blunette again. "How much do you know?"

"Only as much as the Hikari's history book told me."

"So you don't know," Kei mumbled thoughtfully. At Satoshi's confused look he smiled. "The murder of the Hikari's must be conducted in a certain way if the monster is to be raised. First, you should know that there's a sacrificial table constructed over the resting place of the monster." Satoshi shuddered as he seemed to realize where Kei was going. "You'll be placed on the table, then your abdomen will be cut open with a knife," Kei's fingers traced a line down Satoshi's chest as he said this, "And your heart will be removed and the blood smeared on the ground to break the blood seals." Kei's hand balled up into a fist and shoved its way into Satoshi's gut. The boy gasped as all the air was forced from his body and instinctively curled his legs up to protect his chest. Kei stood up with a triumphant smirk on his face. He nodded to the two soldiers and they all turned and left, leaving the gasping boy alone once more. Satoshi winced as he pulled his knees tighter to his chest. Kei hadn't noticed. Not surprising, since the man wasn't of Hikari blood. Satoshi's pained face slowly morphed its way into a grin. Kei said he was a hair's breadth away, but truthfully, Frigus' ruler had no idea how far away he was from his goal.

-

Daisuke glanced at Krad, who was draped over a chair, ignoring anything around him, arm flung over his eyes. What could be seen of the golden eyes were indifferent as they stared back into Daisuke's red ones. The redhead shifted his gaze back to their original position.

"Uh…Dark?" he tried.

"Ngh," came the barely coherent reply. Daisuke rested his chin in the palm of one hand.

"Maybe you should get up Dark," he tried again. The amethyst-eyed boy made no move from his place on the couch, which he had so elegantly draped himself over two days ago and hadn't moved from since then.

"Dark, we can't give up hope. I mean…the spies we sent out haven't returned with any information, so maybe Satoshi isn't dead yet." Dark sat up at that, hope sparking in his almost dead eyes.

"Yes!" he said. "There still could be hope!" Daisuke smiled.

"That's right!" the younger cheered on, "We just need to figure out what to do."

"We can't do anything," Krad deadpanned. Dark and Daisuke froze and looked at the blond who was now sitting up.

"What do you mean by that?" Dark snarled.

"As far as we know, Kei will be more likely to kill Satoshi if we go after him." Krad stated.

"But we can still try to save him!" Daisuke pleaded. Dark growled.

"I love him, and you should at least consider him a friend after all the years he's hung out with us!" the dark-haired boy snarled. Golden eyes narrowed.

"Fine," Krad hissed, "Be my guest. Go throw away your lives and his! See if I care! You know where the door is!"

"Uh, Milords?" Three pairs of angry eyes swivelled to poor Sawako, the maid, who stood cowering in the doorway.

"What?" Dark snapped.

"You have a visitor," was the young girl's reply as a woman in a black cloak pushed open the second of the double doors. The three boys stared at her in confusion. Suddenly she smiled, her green eyes sparkling.

"Good evening! My name's To-To!"

* * *

MW- We all love Towa. XD Let's see. Not much to say today. Thanks to _Weinerdog of Death and Doom_, **The Oblivious Captain Anna** and _Wiz7_ for reviewing! Oh and…DX Please please please please please…..review people! I _know_ you are reading this. ;-; If I hadn't promised weekly updates, I would put off updating in the hope of more reviews….please review! 


	15. Book III, Part III

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

**A/ N: REWRITTEN. Appears mostly the same, but I've changed a few things to make the plot more clear…and I didn't like the other plot anyway. _–grin-_**

* * *

The three princes and their female guest waited while Sawako unloaded the tea tray and left the room, closing the door behind her. Towa picked up her saucer and took a long sip of the tea, putting it back down with a small 'ah'. None of the boys touched their tea but waited for her to speak. When the silence continued to stretch out, Dark finally felt it was up to him to break it.

"So, you said you're a Seer for Frigus?" Towa beamed at his question.

"Yes, yes I am." She said affirmatively, "I met our prince, Satoshi Hikari, when he visited awhile ago. We talked them and I'm the one who gave him the book." At the mention of a book, Dark looked around and grabbed the leather-bound book from the side table.

"This one?" he asked, holding it up. To-To's eyes widened slightly and she put down the saucer, holding out her hands to take the book. She flipped through the yellowed pages before nodding thoughtfully.

"Yes," she mumbled before speaking up, "Yes, this is the book. If he's been reading this, Satoshi will know what his death will bring upon the world."

"And what will it bring?" Daisuke asked, worried.

"Basically? Death, destruction, slavery, more death, that whole deal." Daisuke paled at Towa's description and gripped Krad's hand. The blond didn't flinch, keeping his eyes on the silver-haired woman.

"And how is this supposed to be accomplished?" the golden-eyed boy asked. Towa clicked her tongue and flipped to a certain page in the book before starting to read aloud.

"It has long been known that an ancient and evil majic is connected to the life force of the

Hikaris and only a Hikari can control it. The first Hikari sealed away this majic in a hidden vault, with many blood seals and with this vow: 'Till the last of my bloodline breathes its last breath, this monster will remain sealed away, and the earth protected from its terrible wrath.' Another legend started soon after that vow was made, stating that if all the Hikari's were to die by another's hand, then that one would have complete control of the creature." Towa finished up the paragraph with a deep gasp for breath. It was the only sound in the suddenly silent room.

"**_What?_**" Dark demanded, standing up suddenly, overturning his chair with his sudden actions. Amethyst eyes glinted dangerously. Towa gave no reply, just picked up her tea again.

"I can't believe this!" Dark hissed, "We have to go after him right now." He barely took two steps towards the door before two pairs of arms wrapped around him, one around his waist, and the other around his shoulders. Dark struggled as he was dragged back to the couch where he was shoved down and held in place by Krad's hands on his shoulders.

"What are you doing? We have to save him!" The amethyst eyed boy was obviously enraged.

"Dark," Daisuke pleaded, "Think about this. What if what Krad said earlier about Kei killing him quicker is true? We'll only hurry along the end of the world."

"We need to think this over and come up with a good plan." Krad said emotionlessly. Dark opened his mouth to object again when To-To's voice cut him off.

"At least you two have enough brain power to make up for his." Towa took another sip of her tea, ignoring the glare Dark was sending her. "But you're right," she continued, putting down her cup again, "Kei might hurry along the ceremony if he knew you were coming with soldiers. I don't know for sure though." She took another sip.

"Ceremony?" Daisuke questioned.

"Long story. Not really necessary at the moment. What we need to do is select maybe one or two talented soldiers to break past Frigus' borders and save the boy. Preferably not the spies that you might have there now, because people will recognize them and probably expose the others they associate with as spies as well. However, Kei is very easily distracted by big events. So, if we were to cause enough of a commotion, he might leave Satoshi alone for a while. Maybe that's what Satoshi was thinking when he decided to do this. An outside attack as a diversion for an inside one." Dark seemed to relax in defeat as Towa spoke and Krad let go of his shoulders.

"Yes," Atrum's prince said, "I agree," his mouth seemed to twitch into something of a smile. Daisuke glanced at him.

"Are you okay now?" the redhead questioned.

Dark grinned. "I just need some air." He stood quietly and crossed the room, ducking under the curtains to stand on the balcony. He could still hear the trio talking behind him. This was insane, sitting here while his boyfriend was in so much trouble. Dark snarled silently and leaned over the edge of the balcony, judging the distance to the ground. It looked like it was up to him to save the ice prince.

-

Kei flicked his hand over an assortment of knives. Slim fingers finally landed on a waved blade with jagged edges and a black ivory handle. He picked it up slowly, the blade glinting in the flickering candle light. Lightly, Kei ran the pad of his index finger along the edge. Suddenly, he hissed and pulled back his finger, licking away the swell of the blood from the new cut. Turning his attention back to the knife, Kei smiled evilly.

"Perfect," he purred.

-

Towa leaned forward pick up her tea, forgetting that she had left the book on her lap. The heavy volume slid off her legs and hit the floor, immediately flipping open to a previously marked page. She paused on her way to pick up the china cup and stared at the page.

"What do we have here?" she asked quietly, picked up the book once more. Daisuke, who was sitting next to her, glanced at the picture on the page, smiling slightly when he saw what it was.

"Oh, that's just Satoshi's pendant. Is it a heirloom?" he asked. Towa ignored him, focusing on the picture. Suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise and she snapped her head around to look at Daisuke.

"Where is this now?" she all but demanded. Daisuke look startled, but thought about it anyway.

"Last I saw," he began, "Last I saw, Dark was wearing it." Towa breathed a sight of relief. "What?"

"Nothing," Towa smiled. "It's just that, if Kei were to kill Satoshi tomorrow, nothing would happen." Two pairs of confused eyes stared at her.

"Why?" Krad finally ventured to ask. Towa gave a wry grin.

"Because this pendant was crafted just before Kei's takeover of Frigus. It was made to take any Hikari power out of the wearer. So, if Satoshi was to die, the stone slab wouldn't recognize the blood as Hikari blood. All we need to do," she tapped the page, "is to keep Kei from getting his hands on this pendant."

* * *

MW- Uh yes...I am aware my thought process is a little confusing…but I swear it made sense when it was still in my head! DX _–sobs quietly in corner-_ Anyway, thank you to **Mizuki hikari**, _Darkfire1313_, **The Oblivious Captain Anna**, and _Weinerdog of Death and Doom _for your reviews!_-inhales breath-_ You know the drill by now. Review please! 


	16. Book III, Part IV

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

**READ REWRITTEN CHAPTERS FIRST OR THIS CHAPTER WILL NOT MAKE SENSE!!!**

* * *

Daisuke leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head and glancing worriedly at the curtains that hid the balcony from view.

"He's been out there an awfully long time," he commented. Krad gave a small grunt of agreement from where he was bent over a map with Towa. Towa gave more of a response however.

"Maybe you should go check on him. We can't have him disappearing with that pendant," she suggested, as her finger traced its way up a path. Daisuke nodded thoughtfully and stood up slowly. He crossed the room and pulled back the curtains. The balcony was empty. Daisuke's brow furrowed and he stepped out on the stone, letting the curtain fall in place behind him.

"Dark?" he called uncertainly.

"What?" A voice called back from below, but it was defiantly not Dark's. Daisuke leaned over the side and caught sight of Mirain, standing underneath the overhang, confusion etched on her features as she stared up.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Have you seen Dark?" Daisuke answered with his own question.

"He's gone?" She asked, and Daisuke nodded an affirmative. "I see. Well that answers one question."

"What's that?" the redhead asked.

"Someone took a stallion from the stables about half-an-hour ago. Do you know where he could have gone?" If the matter wasn't serious, Daisuke would have laughed about the fact that each of their statements seemed to have a question at some point.

"I think he went after Satoshi." The red head gnawed on his lip while Mirain stared at him in disbelief.

"You're kidding," she breathed, "Damn it! We have to go after him!" Daisuke nodded again.

"I'll get Krad. You get the horses please." Mirain nodded, her face almost stone as she ran in the other direction. Daisuke turned and entered the room again, staring directly into two expectant pairs of eyes.

"Dark's gone."

-

The carriage doors were sealed. That much, Satoshi knew. Where they were going, he didn't know, but he figured it was to the place where the creature lay and the sacrificial table stood. Resisting the urge to hit his head against the wall of the carriage, Satoshi twisted his wrists experimentally, testing the cuffs that now bound them together. All he got for it was four circular cuts from the metal biting at his skin. The blunette returned his wrists to the original position and laid them in his lap. There was no escape now, he knew that. All there was now was the wait, and the chance to make peace with himself before death.

-

Dark urged his stallion on, watching the little dot that had left the capital in the distance. It was still very, very far away, a little over five miles, but he had to catch up no matter what. He would not let Satoshi die. Not if he had anything to say about it.

-

Daisuke nudged his horse a little more, trying desperately to keep up with Krad and Mirain. They were flying through the forest, almost at the border, clinging to the hope that Dark wasn't too far ahead, and Satoshi wasn't dead yet. The boy barely registered the electrical shock as the horse leapt through the wards that had been deactivated on Atrum's side by Dark. They had to catch up, they had to. Dark had no idea how much danger he had just put everyone in.

-

A chilled sea wind blew over the cliffs of Frigus. Kei walked around the table, his hand tracing the design. The table was made up of two types of stone, the outer being a grey granite, the inner being a deep black obsidian. Words were etched into the granite ring, describing the horrors underneath.

"'Here lies the creature of hell,'" Kei read aloud as he circled the table, "'May he be locked in his dungeon forever, for if he isn't, we will surely die.'" He paused, and looked up at Satoshi, a small smile playing across his lips. Satoshi said nothing, playing with the ends of the rope that had replaced the cuffs on his wrists, struggling to keep a triumphant grin off his face.. Kei seemed disappointed in his lack of reply, but shrugged it off, pulling the waved dagger from his belt and unsheathing it.

"It's nice, isn't it?" he asked, moving the blade so it caught the light, "Would you like to see how sharp it is?" Satoshi stood stock still as the monarch approached him. He felt the blade run down his arm very lightly, yet it still shredded his sleeve and drew blood. The blunette almost bit through his tongue trying to stop a yelp of pain that threatened to emerge. Kei stepped back and studied the boy.

"Put him on the table," he ordered, and the two guards quickly moved to do so. Satoshi couldn't help but resist slightly, at least to make his act convincing. The young prince was slammed roughly down on the stone slab, one guard holding his hands down, the other holding his feet. Kei towered over him, a triumphant smirk plastered on his face. As the dagger slowly lowered, Satoshi couldn't stop the whimper of fear that escaped.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of metal against metal and the knife went flying, landing a few feet away. Another knife joined it seconds later. Kei withdrew his hand, hissing in pain before his eyes flickered up to the top of the snow bank. Dark stood at the top, slightly out of breath, sword already in hand.

"Leave him alone!" he shouted. Satoshi couldn't believe his ears. Dark was here? Here?

"YOU IDIOT!" Satoshi roared, wanting to scold the boy for being stupid enough to come, before a metal gloved hand covered his mouth. The boy squirmed, trying to get free. Kei frowned.

"It seems," he started, "that we have a nuisance causing a slight problem." His eyes returned to Dark as he gave a flick of his wrist to the guards. The men immediately dragged Satoshi off the table and to the side. Kei slowly drew his own sword.

"A nuisance that can be taken care of."

* * *

MW- BLAH! I realized that my last plot didn't have much supporting evidence, so I came up with this one instead. Actually, this was my original plot, but it got lost somewhere in the black hole that is my mind. I'm sorry about not updating, but if you read my profile, you'd see why. Thank you to _The Oblivious Captain Anna,_**BandHallNinja-chan,** _Weinerdog of Death and Doom_, **Wiz7** (Thank you so much for being honest!), _Mizuki hikari, _**Flame Rose Alchemist**, and _cobaltstar_ for your reviews! You all are the reason this story hasn't been discontinued! 


	17. Book III, Part V

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

**A/N- Doing this now because I'll be dead before I can do this at the end. (not literally dammit!) Let's see, I'm updating because we're in the middle of a blizzard, and if I loose power, I don't know when I'll get this up. After this, only _One more chapter_ to go!! Yay! That chapter will be up after the New Year…hopefully. Depends on the weather. If it's really bad, as it's supposed to be for the next few weeks, then it'll be up later. Anyway…yea. Onward ho.**

* * *

Kei lifted his sword and rushed forward, bringing it down quickly, but Dark easily parried the blow. Swords clashed and Satoshi felt helpless as he watched the ensuing battle. A glint caught his eye, and he glanced down to see the ritual knife imbedded in the ground just a few feet in front of him. Glancing up at the guards to make sure they were still enraptured in the fight, he slowly reached for it. As his fingers closed around it, Satoshi silently pulled the knife from ice and set to work on the ropes. Maybe…just maybe this could still work.

Dark thrust low, aiming for Kei's abdomen, but the monarch parried the blow, striking back with his own cut. Dark danced out of range of the deadly blade and to the side, carefully judging the remaining distance between the fight and the edge of the cliffs. The ice was thin now, and there was very little room left. All the shuffling to avoid the blades had brought them closer than comfort to the jagged edge. Quickly, Dark returned his eyes to the fight, just in time to block a sudden thrust from Kei, shoving the blade deep down into the fragile ice shelf.

Satoshi rubbed the blade furiously at his bonds, seeing Kei's blade in the ice and acknowledging that the man was in a vulnerable position. Just a little…more….there! He had it. The ropes snapped and quickly unravelled from his wrists. Checking his guards once more, he decided to take action. A quick upper thrust through the metal scales and into the abdomen of the guard to his left quickly disposed of the man. The second guard, now alert to prisoner's actions, reached for his own blade, but Satoshi was already on his feet and dragging the knife across the man's throat. He fell dead next to his comrade.

Kei didn't take long to recover his bearings and had yanked the sword from the ice before Dark was even sure what was happening. Block, thrust, cut, parry, it was becoming a never-ending cycle. Suddenly, Kei repeated the move that started the fight, bringing his sword down from above. Dark barely managed to block, grunting in effort as the older man continued to put pressure on the blade.

"Dark!" Atrum's prince quickly registered that he was being called and glanced over Kei's shoulder, just in time the catch the hilt of the knife as it was thrown to him. Before Kei knew what was happening, the very blade he had chosen to kill the last Hikari was buried in his heart. Dark quickly stepped out of the way of the falling body, watching it crumple to the ice before sitting down heavily himself, exhaustion seeping through his bones.

"Dark!" Satoshi was running towards him, safe and sound. The prince couldn't help but grin at the blunette.

"Hello lovely!" Dark called back in a jest. Satoshi stopped and scowled, sticking his tongue out in a childish manner at the elder boy.

"Jerk." The blunette walked the rest of the way over, crouching beside the boy who had come so far to rescue him. Satoshi quickly ducked his head to hide his tears under his bangs. Dark smiled softly, knowing what was happening. Gently cupping the younger boy's chin, he lifted Satoshi's face up and wiped away the tears.

"It's okay," he whispered softly, "I'm fine. You're fine. Kei's dead. Life is good." Satoshi couldn't help but smile slightly at Dark's simple reasoning. Dark smiled back, before leaning in to capture a kiss. Satoshi moaned at the feeling of the other boy's lips on his, and Dark gladly took it as an invitation to delve a little deeper.

An ominous _crack_ was what alerted Dark to the danger. Pulling back quickly, Dark glanced behind Satoshi to see large cracks spreading from the place where Kei's sword had entered the thin ice. Cursing slightly, he shoved the blunette backwards, propelling the boy out of the way of danger just as the ice began to crumble. Dark struggled to his feet and ran for safety. But it was too far. One second, Dark could feel the ice beneath his feet, the next, there was only air and he was falling. The last thing he saw was Satoshi's horror filled face and the last thing he heard was the scream.

"**_Daaaaaark!_**"

-

Technically, it could be said that Mirain, Daisuke, and Krad arrived just in time, but it could also be said that they arrive just seconds too late. Too late to save Atrum's prince from falling into the frigid waters below, but just in time to save Frigus' prince from jumping after him. Now, Mirain was cradling the boy she had always called 'son' to her chest, while Krad and Daisuke looked over the edge, searching for any signs of life. With the amount of icebergs down there, and the temperature of the water, it was doubtful that anyone would survive very long. Mirain ran her hand through the icy blue hair, petting Satoshi in comfort.

"Satoshi," she breathed, "My child. Please, talk to me." Her only response was a hysterical sob from the boy who had just lost his heart and soul.

* * *

MW-…_-hides-_ I'm sorry! Don't kill me! I said I wouldn't kill Satoshi! I never said anything about Dark! _–hides behind table-_ Thanks to **cobaltstar**, _The Oblivious Captain Anna_, and **Weinerdog of Death and Doom** for reviewing. Please review! Last chapter should be up after the New Year! 


	18. Epilogue

**Title:** Our Kingdoms

**Authoress:** Meine Welt

**Disclaimer:** D.N. Angel does not belong to me. Nor does "Oh, Mistress Mine." That's William Shakespeare's.

**Warnings: **Yaoi. OOCness

**Summary:** Rules are made to be followed, yet at the same time, are made to broken. People are like rules. Made to follow, lead, be lost, and be broken. Yaoi. AU.

**Things to know: **This is an **AU.** This means it's an alternative universe. This story also contains yaoi. Please don't read if you don't like yaoi. You can not say you have not been warned. One more thing, this DarkxSatoshi with mentions of KradxDaisuke. Don't kill me because I like this pairing. Flames are used to burn bad dubs…

* * *

Satoshi fastened the fur-lined cape around his shoulders, studying his attire in the mirror. It looked decent enough. After all, today was his inauguration day. It had taken the blunette a month and a half to get over Dark's death enough to start talking again, but even now, Satoshi would admit that he still missed his other half greatly. Turning slowly, Satoshi crossed the room to the high windows that gave a beautiful view of the courtyard. Down below, he could see much of Frigus as well as the royal families from Atrum, Solis, and Accendo had gathered. Queen Emiko seemed to be fussing about Daisuke's hair while Krad looked on, knowing better than to get on the bad side of the Queen. Dark's parents stood to one side, watching the scene unfold with a sad smile on their faces. Mirain stood to their left, staring solemnly at the ground. Satoshi allowed his eyes to drift from the scene below to a far corner of the courtyard, where a stone slab had been erected in the honour of Atrum's lost prince. The body had never been found, even after weeks of combing the frozen cost. Satoshi forcefully blinked back tears as a knock sounded on the door. A maid poked her head in and the blunette stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"They're ready for you Milord." Satoshi nodded and turned away from the window. All he could do know was struggle to move on.

-

Queen Risa of Mercadia was often described by her people as being slightly 'overly-materialistic.' Now, being materialistic was one thing, but being over-materialistic was a completely different thing in itself. For example, everything you have must be perfect, and hopefully better than that of everyone else's. Many speculated that was why she had yet to find her 'dream man.' But it was none of their business anyway. On this fine spring day, Risa had decided to take a stroll along the docks and see how the fishing was going. Fishing was the major producer of money in Mercadia, seeing as the country was located on an island in the middle of the sea and the variety of fish nearby. Her heels clicked against the wood planks as she walked along, studying the fishermen who were just pulling in, or just shoving off. Glancing further down the dock, she noticed a small crowd of people gathered around something. Eager to see what it was, she quickened her footsteps.

"What is it?" Risa asked as she reached the group. Many people parted to grant her access to the centre, where a young man lay, damp dark hair spread out beneath him, eyes closed. Risa felt her breath catch in her throat as she mentally declared that this man was the most handsome she had ever laid eyes on. She looked him up and down quickly, her eyes coming to rest on a small crystal pendant that lay on his chest. He must be an important person to have such a trinket, she decided. As she crouched beside him, the man stirred and amethyst coloured eyes opened slowly. Risa smiled warmly.

"Good morning," she chirped in an almost annoying sort of way, "I'm _Queen_ Risa, of Mercadia. Who are you?" The dark eyes blinked at her slowly, as if trying to comprehend what she had said. Then his mouth moved.

"I don't know."

_---Present Day---_

The bard leaned back in his chair, closing his book with a snap and a sigh. He gave a glance around the room, noticing all the eager eyes still on him, as if waiting for him to continue. He licked his lips and picked up his pint of ale, downing half of it in one gulp. Telling stories like this always did make his throat dry. A small tug on his tunic brought him back to the tavern room and his warm brown eyes landed on a little girl by his chair.

"What happens next?" the girl asked softly. The whole room seemed to hold its breath.

"I don't know," the bard answered, giving a shrug of his shoulders. "Only three books were found in the ruins of Solis' library. It took me a while to get a hold of them and now I just go around reading what I know." The girl's eyes dimmed in sadness.

"You mean there's no more to the story?" she asked. The bard laughed a deep laugh.

"I never said that!" he said, "I simply said that at the time, there were only three books found. There might be more books, seeing as they're still digging through those ruins, but I doubt it. I probably would have heard." The girl seemed to wilt in disappointment, and the bard felt his heart go out to her. Putting one of his large hands on top of her head, he smiled genuinely at her.

"Tell you what," he said, "I'll sing you one last song. How's that?" The girl nodded happily. The bard grinned and cleared his throat, before opening his mouth and singing in a rich baritone:

"O mistress mine, where are you roaming?

O stay and hear, your true love's coming

That can sing both high and low.

Trip no further, pretty sweeting,

Journeys end in lovers' meeting

Ev'ry wise man's son doth know.

What is love? 'tis not hereafter

Present mirth hath present laughter,

What's to come is still unsure.

In delay there lies no plenty

Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty

Youth's a stuff will not endure."

* * *

MW- How sad. It's over. I'm actually kind of proud of myself for finishing this. Thanks to _The Oblivious Captain Anna,_ **Ihni**, _Needlasch_ (are you aware how hard your name is to spell? DX), **BandHallNinja-chan**, _Weinerdog of Death and Doom_, and **cobaltstar** for reviewing! **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and has supported this story from it's beginning to the end! **And now, I bid you Buona Notte, Adieu, Oyasumnsai, Goeienag, CháoHyvää Yötä, Iyi Geceler and **_Good Night! _**(no, I only speak 4 of those 8 languages. Learning a 5th though...)

…I'm not counting on a sequel, but if you want one, go ahead and let me know.


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